As Time Goes On
by AnimeGoddess1599
Summary: I know! No new stories but this just came to me! Read if you dare! Rating will change later on.
1. Chapter 1

**THIS STORY SHALL ALSO BE POSTED ON WATTPAD UNDER THE USERNAME ABBEHCAKES. SHE WAS CO-WRITER AND SHE'LL HAVE THIS STORY UP AS WELL IF YOU'D LIKE TO READ IT THERE.**

* * *

_Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…_

"_He's such a beautiful baby boy, isn't he Vargas?"_

_The small baby cooed, blue eyes looking around in wonder before resting upon his mother, then his father._

_Vargas smiled breathlessly. "Y-Yeah," he muttered, a bit nervous. "He's gonna be a handsome heartbreaker when he gets older."_

"_Just like his father," Lava said, smiling up at Vargas, though it was strained._

_Vargas noticed immediately. "Lava, are you okay? How do you feel? Do you need the doctor?"_

_Lava chuckled, shifting the baby boy around in her arms. "Vargas, I want to name him Vincent."_

_Vargas kneeled beside her. "Lava, anything you want. I think Vincent is a great name."_

_Lava began to pant heavily. "Good," she stuttered. "G-good. A-a-and promise me you'll take g-good care of him."_

_Vargas gripped her shoulder. "Lava, you say that like you won't be around to watch him grow up. Are you leaving me?" Vargas asked, hoping that was the problem at hand._

"_Vargas," Lava gasped. "You know I won't be around much longer-"_

"_Don't say that," Vargas ground out. "He'll grow up to be a strong, capable young boy, just like his father, but also be caring and compassionate- like his mother. And-"_

_Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep_

"_Vargas," Lava interrupted. "You and I both know that-" she took a sharp intake of breath. "I won't be around to see him grow. I-I don't think I-_

_Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!_

"_Nurse!" Vargas shouted, feeling panic rise. "Nurse! Help!"_

_Three nurses and two doctors rushed into the room. One took the baby out of Lava's hands before he wild spasms she was having could hurt him._

"_Lava!" Vargas shouted. "Lava, please! You have to survive this!"_

"_She's hemorrhaging!"_

"_Her heart rate is speeding too fast! It's already 145 over 65! We're losing her!"_

"_Quick! What's her blood type?! Maybe we can get a transfusion going-"_

"_It's O Negative!"_

"_We don't have any O Negative in stock!"_

"_Heart rate 156 over 65!"_

"_She's losing too much blood too fast! We're gonna lose her!"_

_Lava had the strength to give him one last look. "I-I l-l-l-love you," she coughed. "So m-much…Vargas," she whispered._

_BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep_

_Her body gave one last mighty jerk before it went still._

"_LAVA!" Vargas screamed. "LAVA!"_

_**Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep**_

_One of the doctors sighed, looking at the clock. "Call it," he said regretfully._

"_Time of death," a nurse choked out. "7:42 P.M."_

"_LAVA!" Vargas fell to his knees, staring at the blood coating the sheets, Lava's face twisted in pain, her eyes opened in pain. _

"_Vargas…Vargas…Vargas!"_

* * *

"AHH!" Vargas' eyes shot open, his body cold with sweat. He sat up too fast, throwing off whoever was shaking him as his head swam.

"Jeez!" The person said, rising to their knees and brushing themselves off. "Don't scare me like that!"

Vargas looked over the bedside, seeing a young woman kneeling on the floor, rubbing her backside. She glared up at him. "Is that the thanks I get for waking you up?! Next time, I'll let your ass sleep through your alarm!"

Vargas got out of bed, helping the woman up. "Sorry Phoenix. I didn't mean to scare you like that," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I was just-

"Vincent's birth?" She guessed, giving him a sympathetic look.

Vargas nodded. "I miss her. I really miss her." He chuckled bitterly. "16 years and I can't get her outta my head."

Phoenix patted his shoulder. "No one asked you to forget about her. We just want you happy."

"I know," Vargas sighed. "It just hurts."

"No one said losing someone was easy," Phoenix said, sitting down beside him. "And no one said you can't talk about her every now and then; I know Vincent likes it." She smiled at him. "And he wants you happy too. He isn't asking you to forget his mother, he just wants his father happy after 18 years of loneliness."

Vargas smiled slightly. "I guess so."

Phoenix sat up. "Good. Now come on. I have breakfast ready downstairs and everyone is still eating. I saved you some," she winked.

Vargas smiled. "I'm gonna grab a shower and be down, okay?"

She smiled. "Alright. Don't be too long though, or you'll miss seeing them off to school." She gave his shoulder one last pat before she walked out, closing the door behind her. Vargas watched her go, willing his erratic heartbeat to slow down.

Back in the Old Days, the Days of Grand Gaia where heroes of legend ran the world and walked the earth, there was a battle with the Great Gods, who turned on humans. Heroes of all elements battled them fiercely, and though they won, every hero lost their life. However, the Gods, seeing how wrong they were, decided to pull their powers together to give them a chance at life. Those heroes were born again into the modern world, with all of their original powers, and had to learn to adjust to a new world of which they were familiar. And that's how we stumble upon our tale.

Back in the days of Grand Gaia, the hero of fire was known as Holy Flames Vargas. However, in the modern world, his name is Vargas Scott, and due to his love of swordplay, teaches a sword fighting class for young children. Knowing of his past since he was younger, Vargas hunted down his old rival Lava, who was also reborn into this time. However, the two set aside their differences and feel in love, getting married once they became of age, and having a son named Vincent. However, Lava died shortly after Vincent's birth, leaving Vargas heartbroken and alone. He wouldn't have gotten anywhere without Lava. Until fate had it that he would meet an inspiring young author named Phoenix.

* * *

_~Flashback~_

"_Shh Vincent," Vargas tried, trying to calm the wailing infant down. It wasn't working, only seemed to make Vincent cry louder. He became red in the face as he screamed. "Vincent, please calm down," he said quietly, avoiding all the looks from the people in the café. Vargas had only tried to take Vincent out for some air and decided to stop at a café for something to eat. However, Vincent began to cry and wouldn't stop._

"_Vincent," Vargas pleaded. "Shh."_

"_Can you hear, my cries? Can you see, my eyes? I am calling…out, to, you. Mm-mmm," a voice sang soothingly._

_Vincent's cries soon reduced to whimpers, where he used a tiny fist to wipe his eyes. Vargas stared at the young waitress who sang, who was blushing nervously. "M-my mother used to sing that to me when I used to cry as a child. I-I figured it would work for this handsome little boy," she smiled at Vincent, who in turn smiled back. Vargas bounced Vincent in his lap. "Wow. Thank you…?"_

"_Phoenix," she supplied._

"_Phoenix," he repeated, smiling. "I've seen you before, here right?"_

_She nodded, smiling. "Yeah. I've seen you come in here with your son before. I work here every day in the afternoons. You always get a soy latte with caramel drizzle and cinnamon, and a chocolate milk for the baby."_

_Vargas nodded. "Yeah. And you always scrape those chocolate flakes onto my latte and give Vincent a dinosaur straw."_

_She laughed. "Something for the kids I guess."_

_Vincent cooed, holding up his arms. Vargas gestured towards the seat next to him. "Would you like to sit and hold him? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."_

"_O-oh. I'm still on duty for another two hours." She smiled sheepishly. "Maybe some other time?"_

_Vincent pouted at being denied, crossing his chubby little arms. Vargas laughed. "I don't think he likes that idea."_

"_Phoenix!" A black haired woman shouted. "Get back here! I'm not finishing your shift for you!"_

"_Coming!" She yelled back. She smiled at Vargas. "I have to go. But I'll see you around sometime, okay? You too sweetheart," she said, blowing a kiss towards Vincent. "Bye…"_

"_Vargas."_

"_Vargas." She repeated, smiling. "Bye." She gave a little wave and walked back behind the counter._

* * *

_~Flashback End~_

Vincent looked up at the shower nozzle, smiling. Phoenix and he had met up time and time again, where they had learned a lot about each other. And she'd babysit Vincent for him when he needed her. They had grown close in that time, where Vargas had learned that Phoenix was an author of many famous fantasy novels, and that she lived with an artist who had done many wonderful paintings since her high school years. The two girls had been best friends since middle school and lived together in a large mansion. It was during that time that Vargas had told her about his past, and about Lava, and about what happened and where he was living: a dingy run-down place (he hadn't been working at his dojo at that point) which pissed her off.

* * *

_~Flashback~_

"_What?!" Phoenix screeched. "You live where?!"_

_Vargas jumped. "I-It's in the residential district downtown and-_

"_I know where it is!" she shouted, crossing her arms. "Why are you and your son living there of all places?! Do you know how dangerous that is?! How much crime goes on down there?!"_

"_It's all I can afford right now," he tried._

"_No. You will __**not **__continue living there if I have anything to say about that!" She whipped out her cellphone, dialing a number. "Sierra Arielle we have a problem."_

"_Yeah. That guy and his son, they live in the downtown residential zone."_

"_I know!"_

"_Yeah, I told him that, but he said that was all he could afford."_

"_Yeah, I know."_

"_Soo, can he live with us?"_

"_What?! Please?!"_

"_B-But-"_

"_Whoa! You've got that Uda-guy and his son are living with you! Why can't Vargas and his son live with us?!"_

"_Yeah…yeah. I know…okay, I will…yes. Of course I'll make dinner for the next month! We can't all survive on pasta for that long, seeing as though it's all you can make."_

"_Yeah, love you too bitch…yeah. Whatever. I'll bring him over soon, okay?"_

"_I don't know. In the next two weeks maybe?"_

"_Alright. Bye."_

_She turned back to Vargas who was obediently waiting for her to finish. "You're living with me and my roommate."_

_Vargas gaped. "B-But-"_

"_Let's start packing!" Phoenix declared._

* * *

_~Flashback End~_

For the last 16 years, Vargas had been living with Phoenix and her roommate Sierra Arielle, an artist. At first, Arielle was skeptical, but eventually went with it. Vincent could have left whenever he wanted, but was so comfortable he couldn't bear to leave them. And Vincent had mother figures around (though he told Vincent about Lava. He couldn't deny his son the truth.) and lived much more comfortably than Vargas could have given him in their condition before.

Chardonnay Phoenix Alejandra-Ramirez Brown was a lively young woman who was quiet at time with black hair that had auburn streaks and brown eyes. She was African American mixed with Spanish and was only about 5'8. She had written many fantasy novels that were best-sellers and made a fortune from it. She had a kind-heart unless you pissed her off, then you had to run like Cardes was on your tail. Although her real name was Chardonnay, she went by Phoenix, her middle name.

Sierra Arielle Armani-Laurenti Carter was an artist, Italian mixed with Caucasian. She had jet-black hair and a Kool-Aid red streak in the front. She had green eyes and was 5'9, only an inch taller than Chardonnay. She was a lively artist who sketched many different drawings of many different genres. She had a no-nonsense attitude, but was fun to be around once you got to know her. The only thing that really pissed her off was being called Sierra Arielle' she preferred Arielle only, but Phoenix would usually call her Sierra Arielle to piss her off or when she was mad at her.

Vargas quickly jumped out of his shower and pulled on some black sweatpants and a plain white-beater, forgoing socks. He exited his room, almost colliding with Arielle who rushed past, screaming for the others to wake up. Vargas chuckled, heading downstairs.

He was greeted to the sight of a myriad of teens sitting around a large dining room table, some reading or doing homework, or tossing a ball around. "Morning everyone," he greeted.

At the table, the teens all look up. "Hey Vargas!" Esther chirped.

"Hn," Elijah grunted.

"Sup," Jared nodded to him.

"Good morning," Jessabelle said politely.

"Good morning!" Conner greeted, waving.

"Hey," Sasha said, the only one not looking up from painting her nails.

"Hm," Robin mumbled, raising his glass in greeting.

"Hey dad!" Vincent called, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

Vargas ruffled his son's hair, smiling. "Hey Vincent. Almost done?"

Vincent swiped an apple from the bowl on the table. "Just about," he replied, taking a large bite. "Phoenix left your plate in the microwave. Just heat it up."

"Alright. Go ahead and finish up so you can catch the bus."

"Okay dad."

Vincent was a splitting image of Vargas with the same hairstyle and voice, but Vincent had blue eyes, like his mother. Also like his father, he liked longswords and had control of flames, and wanted to continue the family practice, so he learned sword fighting from his father and had unconsciously performed his mother's moves from time to time. Vargas was enormously proud of that fact. It proved that somehow, Lava was still around, only a part of her in Vincent.

10 minutes later, Arielle was frantically drawing in her sketch pad while Phoenix cleaned up after the kids. "Alright everyone! Bus'll be here any minute. You gotta go before you miss it."

The kids all stood up, gathering books and putting supplies away into their bags, Jessabelle screeching when she saw spiders crawling out of hers, courtesy of Jared.

"Bye dad," Vincent said, giving his father a quick hug. "Bye Phoenix. Bye Arielle."

Arielle gave him a quick hug. Phoenix kissed his forehead and he walked out. The routine was the same for the rest of them, only Esther hugged back, Elijah ducked out of the hug and dodged the kiss, grunting in annoyance, Jared gagged and acted like he was too old for affection, Jessabelle hugged them all back, Sasha gave them all her own hug, squeezing Arielle too tightly and giving a big wet kiss to Phoenix's cheek, Robin accepted it all without returning any gestures, Eideolous grunted, and Conner returned the hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek in return.

Vargas rolled his eyes, digging into his food. All of them had far too different personalities, but that made them all special in their own way. "What's the plan for today?" He asked, taking a bite of toast.

Arielle sighed. "We're having some contractors over later, since Luther and Uda wrecked the patio two days ago. Then, I have to go down to the station and get Kuda out of custody."

"Again?" Vargas asked. "This is the third time this week!"

"I know," Arielle said, flicking her hair out of her eyes. "And then, I have to meet with my assistant about my next work." She gestured to the sketchpad. "Which isn't finished yet."

"Again?" Phoenix asked, popping Arielle on the back of the head. "Bae, you promised you'd finish it a week ago!"

"I know," Arielle said, pouting. "And I'm sorry. But I will have it finished today, alright bae?"

"I guess," Phoenix pouted.

"Oh bae! You look so cute when you pout!" Arielle gushed, pulling Phoenix into a hug, making Phoenix blush.

Vargas laughed at the two's antics. At first, with all the pet names and the two making crude remarks about each other's bodies and bedroom habits (*ahem* kinks), Vargas had originally though the two to be lesbians. However, Arielle smacked him and Phoenix laughed, explaining that they had always joked with each other like that. They had said it was just a thing between them, often calling each other 'bae' and labeling each other's body parts as to who it belonged to. There wasn't anything farther than that, just them toying with each other.

"Get off of me!" Phoenix huffed, pushing Arielle away. "You still need to finish your work!"

"Okay! Jeez!" Arielle exclaimed, sitting back down. "And you need to put some clothes on. I can't believe you walk around like that in front of children!" She said, thrusting her pencil at Phoenix, who had a habit of walking around with barely anything on. Unlike Arielle, who was in Batman sweatpants, a gray shirt and a black tight-fitting hoodie, Phoenix wore ridiculously short training shorts, a black training bra, and loose white shirt that hung off of both shoulders.

Phoenix rolled her eyes. "They go to high school and they aren't children anymore. I'm sure they've seen worse."

Arielle crossed her arms. "No one is allowed to gaze upon that huge and fabulous boo-tay but me."

Phoenix blushed. "My ass is not that big!"

"The hell it isn't!" Arielle yelled back. "Ask Vargas! He knows what I'm talking about!" Arielle grabbed Phoenix, still blushing, and turned her around, bending her over the table. "Don't you Vargas?" She asked, winking.

Vargas felt his face heat and couldn't stop himself from staring at the prize that was presented in front of him. "W-Well, I..um-I don't really think, I mean, I wouldn't-" he stumbled over his words, trying to stop himself from staring and swallowing the drool that threatened to drop. Arielle smirked at him, being much stronger than Phoenix and able to hold her down.

Vargas had been living with Sierra Arielle and Phoenix for 16 years, and for 10 of them, he had been in love with Phoenix. He couldn't help himself; he saw a bit of Lava in her, and though he wasn't trying to replace her because no one could ever replace Lava, Vargas couldn't help but fall in love with Phoenix. Phoenix was a protective person, worrying about others first before herself, and had taken him and his son in when they had no one else and put up with them for 16 long years. Though Vargas was prideful and didn't really like getting help from other people, Phoenix was as stubborn as he was and insisted on helping them. And even more, she was tough when need be and also knew when and when not to act wild in public. She was really everything he would like in a woman, and she made the most amazing cookies.

Unfortunately, there were three flaws in his plan to try and woo Phoenix.

The first was unfortunately, her job as a novelist. Phoenix hated to be disturbed when a stroke of inspiration hit her, and secluded herself when she was working on a chapter of one of her novels, kicking out anyone who ever tried to disturb her. Even Arielle got hit when she tried to talk with Phoenix during her inspired moments. Those happened often, so often that Vargas couldn't work up a time to try and woo her.

The second was Arielle and the teens. Though he loved his son and all of Vincent's friends, there was so much work that went into taking care of 8 children that Vargas could barely think of any other way to approach her. Almost everything they did had to do with one of them, whether it was getting them out of custody (Sasha mostly), taking them to their afterschool activities (Jared and Robin), helping them study and do schoolwork (Conner, Eideolous and Elijah), taking them shopping (Jessabelle and Esther), and doing so much he was surprised Phoenix hadn't lost her mind. Arielle was trying to help him, but it wasn't really working. Two years after he realized how he felt about Phoenix, Arielle had happened to find out and used it to her advantage. She had accidentally found out when it was her turn to wake everyone up and had stumbled upon Vargas having a very erotic dream about Phoenix. Now, every time Arielle would call in a favor, she'd remind him of that day. Though Arielle did try to help, her suggestions weren't really Vargas' style, so he usually declined.

"I spy with my little eye, a nice piece of ass callin' to me!" An obnoxious voice said loudly, making Vargas mentally groan. That was the third flaw in his plans. Inferno Beast Zegar, clad in black sweats and no shirt. Again.

It wasn't that Vargas didn't like Zegar; they'd fought together in the war against the gods in their past life and worked well together. And Zegar had a hard life as well, romance wise. Since he had become beast-like, Zegar usually want into heat like animals, causing him to want to breed and dominate. An unfortunate traveler was his victim who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Zegar couldn't help himself but use her in his mind's most carnal need. Pregnant and afraid, the woman pleaded with Zegar to at least take responsibility for what he did, and being a man of honor, Zegar accepted, being with the woman every step of the way. However, during the birth, the animal-like qualities of the twins began to tear the woman apart, causing the doctors to have to perform an emergency C-Section to save them. However, the mother did not survive, leaving Zegar with the guilt of it all. Vargas knows that Zegar can't control himself when his heat takes over his mind, and he'll end up hurting whoever is close by. And Vargas doesn't like him for that reason.

The other is that Zegar, like Vargas himself, is in love with Phoenix.

Vargas knew that this fact put Phoenix in danger because Zegar wasn't aware of what he did when he hurt someone in heat. And Vargas wasn't going to allow that to happen to Phoenix. That's the other reason why he needed to keep Zegar away from Phoenix. It was all to keep her safe.

Phoenix finally wrestled Arielle off of her, but not before Zegar smacked her ass. Phoenix then popped them both, Zegar even harder for hitting her ass. "Breakfast is on the stove. I have to go get Kuda out of custody before-"

"Right here," Kuda said, sliding open the patio door and slipping in. "Where's breakfast?"

"Kuda?!" Arielle screamed. "You were in custody for the night!"

Kuda grinned. "No, I was in custody for about 10 minutes, then I realized I had better things to do and busted out."

Kuda, not wanting to involve his son Elijah in the affairs and harsh reality of the assassin life, left Elijah at an orphanage when he was a baby. His wife had already left for the same reason. However, two years later, he and his wife met again and had one last night together. After finding she was pregnant, Kuda's wife was distraught to realize how many enemies she would have for carrying Kuda's child, so after Esther was born, Kuda was left with an infant daughter. Regretting what he had done to Elijah, Kuda vowed not to let the same happen to his daughter. Although he expresses how sorry he is, Kuda cannot seem to reach Elijah, who is dead set on protecting Esther from him. Kuda, not good with emotions, only argues with Elijah and doesn't seem to reach common ground with him.

Arielle crossed her arms. "What did you steal?"

"Nothing!" Kuda protested.

Arielle and Phoenix looked at each other. "Spread," they commanded at the same time.

Kuda sighed, placing his hands on his head and spreading his legs. Phoenix patted his arms and his torso while Arielle patted down his lower body, glaring up at him when she reached mid-calf. Pushing up his gay sweatpants, she pulled out a thin dagger embedded with many precious jewels. "Kuda!"

"…I didn't do it."

Phoenix snatched it out of her hands, holding it up to the light. "Kuda, this is the 1987 British Royal Protector's Dagger. Someone in Russia bought this for 2.8 billion dollars last year."

Vargas raised an eyebrow. "How'd you get to Russia in a night?"

Kuda grinned. "Russia came to me."

The three stared at him, making him sigh. "The ambassador who bought this was in town, and I sorta led him to a bar, got him wasted, and slipped it off of him. No harm done, right?"

Arielle smacked him with the blunt end of the dagger. "What do you mean 'no harm done'?! You _stole _a dagger from an important figure from Russia! If he finds out, he could have you killed!"

"In Soviet Russia, Ambassador no kill you, you kill Ambassador."

"That doesn't even make sense!"

Kuda grunted. "You don't make sense." He plopped down at the table, taking a banana from the fruit bowl.

Zegar chuckled. "Hah! Busted."

Kuda chucked the banana at Zegar, who unsheathed his claws and caught it on the middle one, disintegrating it in an instant. "Gotta be quicker than that!"

"Why you-"

"Good morning everyone!" Karl greeted cheerfully, walking into the kitchen.

"Hi Karl!" Arielle shouted, waving energetically.

"Hey Karl!" Phoenix grinned.

Karl smiled. "Something smells good. What's for breakfast?"

"Phoenix made pancakes, some French toast, bacon, and some eggs," Vargas answered, putting his dirty plate into the sink.

Karl grabbed a plate and filled it with pancakes. "Thank you-"Karl blushed, looking down at his feet. "Uh, Phoenix?"

"Yes?" Phoenix asked, hopping up onto the table.

"Um…you aren't wearing…you don't…I-I mean you're-you're not wearing pants," Karl stuttered out.

Phoenix lifted the hem of her shirt. "Yes I am. I'm wearing shorts."

"O-Oh…I apologize then. I thought you weren't in…um, y'know…that you didn't-"Karl's face was the same shade as a tomato.

"Oh Karl!" Phoenix grinned. "You're so cute when you're flustered!"

Karl blushed even harder.

Kuda, trying to take advantage of the situation, grabbed another banana and slowly crept out of the kitchen.

"Oh no you don't!" Phoenix yelled. "We aren't done with you!"

Kuda flinched, though he tried not to show it. "I was just going to-

"You were just going to find that Russian Ambassador and give him back his dagger that he _paid _for, that you happened to steal!"

Kuda frowned. "But-

"Now!" Phoenix shouted.

Kuda sighed, disappearing out the patio door. "I'll be back in two hours. One if he's still at the motel I left him at."

"_Kuda!"_

"I'm going!" He yelled back.

Karl frowned. "What happened this time?"

Arielle sighed. "Kuda decided to steal an expensive dagger from an ambassador from Russia and escaped custody last night."

"How?" Karl asked. "I thought the police constantly kept watch of the people they caught."

"They do," Arielle replied. "Kuda's just that good."

Karl shook his head, digging into his pancakes. "That man…"

"Oh yeah. I forgot." Phoenix pulled a letter from her bra. "This, is for you from the school. It's about Conner."

Karl blushed, probably because she just pulled it form her cleavage. "Conner? Is he in trouble?"

"Conner? In trouble?" Arielle laughed. "What could he have possibly done? Killed a butterfly?"

Phoenix laughed as well, shaking her head. "No, it's about an award. Conner won Student of the Month and he's been chosen for his leadership skills to go on a school trip to a conference about kindness and leadership and all that jazz." She smiled. "I went to one of those. It was fun."

Zegar snorted. "_You _were kind in high-school?"

Phoenix threw an apple at him, nailing him right in the head.

"Ow!"

"Yes I was kind! I was kind, a good leader, and in the Top 10 of my graduating class!" Phoenix said with crossed arms, huffing.

"…I wore Batman clothes and pajama pants often," Arielle said, grinning. "And I called my Chemistry teacher a fat whore in tenth grade, and told my 12th grade English teacher to hit a treadmill before he killed his wife putting all that weight on her when they have sex."

Zegar shook his head. "Oh Arielle."

Phoenix shook her head. "And a letter came in from Eva." She held up a light blue envelope. "May I?"

Karl nodded, though a bit tensely. "Go ahead."

"'Dear Karl,

'I'm happy to tell you that Jack got a job transfer and we'll now be living in the same city as you! I'll be able to see Conner and see my friends again! Isn't that great news?!'"

Zegar snorted again, chuckling into his glass. "Friends? We all hate her."

"Hell yeah we do!" Arielle shouted, raising her charcoal pencil into the air.

"'I'm really sorry about all that's happened, and Jack is too. I do regret that I neglected our son, and I want to know if it would be possible for me to have partial custody of Conner so that he can get to know his mother a little better. I do hope you'll agree and also put the past behind us. We were really good friends and I hope we can get back there soon.

Sincerely, Eva.'"

Karl slammed his hands down on the table and stood rapidly, knocking his chair over in the process. "What? She wants partial custody of Conner? Now of all times?"

"That whore!" Arielle shouted. "How dare she?! I say we find her, chop her into tiny pieces, make her into a stew, and feed it to Jack! …Then kill him too!"

Zegar pumped a fist into the air. "Yeah!"

"NO!" Phoenix yelled. "We let Karl decide what to do. It's the mother of _his _child after all." She picked up a lone knife from the table, tossing it up into the air and catching it. "If he wants her to disappear…" she picked up an apple and threw it, flicking the knife after it. In mid-air, the knife embedded itself in the center of the apple and stuck into the wall. The apple then broke down the middle and the two pieces fell to the floor. "Then she disappears," Phoenix finished, smirking.

"Damn woman! How'd you do that?!" Arielle yelled, eyes wide. "I wanna try it!"

"My gods that was hot," Zegar drooled. "Do it again!"

Vargas chuckled. "Calm your tits Phoenix. You don't need to murder innocent fruits."

Arielle picked up a butter knife, flicking her wrist but never flinging the knife. She lobbed it at the wall, but it hit the lamp instead and clattered to the floor. "Damn it! Lemme try again!" She ran into the kitchen, coming back with an assortment of knifes and started throwing fruit at the wall, sending the knives after them.

"You're wasting fruits you know," Vargas supplied. "What did they ever do to you?"

Arielle ignored him, throwing another fruit at the wall. Phoenix threw another knife that hit the unlucky orange that was the victim this time, embedding the knife and orange into the far wall.

"Damn Phoenix! How'd you do that?! You didn't even look!" Arielle marveled, staring at the orange.

Phoenix shrugged. "I took a tomahawk class in college."

"Why didn't I know about that?!" Arielle glared at Phoenix. "I thought we took almost the same classes!"

"Remember? You took that Claymation class, and I took my own."

Zegar's eyes had nearly popped out of his head. "You just keep getting hotter and hotter," he murmured, drooling more profoundly.

Karl was oddly quiet, staring at his pancakes. Arielle noticed this and tore her attention away from the knives. "Are you okay Karl?"

Karl dumbly shook his head. "I-I can't believe Eva suddenly thinks she can walk into Conner's life after this long. She didn't have an interest in him before, why now?"

Vargas knew the answer to that: Eva hadn't been able to get pregnant by Jack yet, and she really wanted a child, so she went to the next best thing: the child she already had.

Karl's son Conner is the son of Snow Queen Eva. Although Eva was engaged to marry her long-time lover and friend Jack, Jack had made her upset by spending too much time with Lucina. Eva was jealous that Jack would fall in love with Lucina (who had been in love with him), so to make Jack jealous right back, Eva got revenge by manipulating Karl into sleeping with her. However, Jack realized his mistake and gave Eva a heartfelt apology, which Eva accepted, and they got married soon after; Eva left Karl confused, upset and feeling used. Later, Eva found out that she was pregnant, but assumed it was Jack's child. But, when the baby was born, he looked just like Karl. Instead of being angry with Eva, Jack was angry with Karl and forced him to take Connor and raise him by himself; Eva gave up her parental rights to make Jack happy. Jack then swore that Karl was now his rival and didn't want him to come near Eva or himself with the name Jack gave Conner 'a mistake'. Karl was upset by the whole ordeal and tried to give Conner a normal childhood, but he was new to everything and had a hard time. Vargas, Sierra Arielle, Phoenix, and Uda met Karl when Conner was six-months old.

* * *

_~Flashback~_

"_It's a pretty nice day out," Phoenix commented, laying out a blanket. "Not too hot, not too cloudy, and just the right amount of wind."_

"_And, no deadline!" Arielle shouted happily._

_Phoenix shook her head. "Yeah. For once, you were on time."_

_Arielle rolled her eyes. "Where the food at? I'm hungry."_

"_Is all you think about food Arielle?" Phoenix asked, though she handed her a sandwich._

"_Yup!" Arielle said happily, taking a huge bite._

"_Let me rephrase that: do you think of anything other than food, coffee, bacon, Soul Eater, Death Note, Doctor Who, Tumblr, Supernatural, and Fairy Tail?"_

_Arielle chewed thoughtfully. "Uh…nope. That's about it!"_

_Vargas chuckled, setting Vincent out on the blanket. The baby got on all fours and crawled around, digging through the picnic basket. Vargas pulled out a teddy bear that Vincent loved and set it, along with a narwhal toy (how Arielle convinced him to get it, he didn't know) on the blanket. Vincent immediately crawled away from the basket and went over to his toys, hugging them both to his chest and looking up at his father happily._

_Uda smiled a bit, setting his own son, Jared, down on the blanket as well. Jared crawled over to Vincent and plopped down with his arms crossed. Vincent smiled and held out his narwhal toy. Jared looked at it with a pout before knocking it out of Vincent's hands and snatching the teddy bear. Vincent sniffled, crawling over to his narwhal and holding it close._

_Uda smirked. "Yeah! That's my boy! Take what you want!"_

_Arielle smacked him with her thermos of coffee. "Don't teach him that!"_

_Jared looked up innocently at his father and smiled. Uda smiled back._

"_Ba-Bey-Bi-," Vincent was trying to say._

_Vargas picked him up and set him in his lap. "What is it Vincent? What do you see?"_

"_B-Ba-Ba-Bee. Bay-bee. Ba-be. Baby!" Vincent squealed happily, pointing at a small little blue-haired boy standing on chubby legs. The other boy was looking at Vincent's narwhal. Vincent looked down at his toy before looking at the other boy and smiling, holding his toy out. The other baby smiled and waddled over to them, hands outstretched. Phoenix stood and went over to the baby, picking him up. "Well hi cutie! What're you doing here? Where's your mommy and daddy?"_

_The baby smiled up at her. "Daddy!" He said, twisting in her arms to point._

"_Conner!"_

_They watched as a man with blue-hair jogged up to them. "Conner there you are! I swear, I turned away for one second…"_

_Conner giggled. "Daddy!" He held out his arms._

_The man took his from Phoenix's arms and smiled. He then smiled at Phoenix. "Thank you so much! I turned for a second to grab his bottle and he was gone." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm just glad he didn't get too far."_

_Phoenix smiled. "New father?"_

_The man looked shocked. "How did you-"_

"_You have baby upchuck on your shirt, and some on your pants. You don't look like you've been getting any sleep at all, too much even for a new parent, and your overall aura excludes it."_

_The man looked down, blushing._

"_You don't have a wife or girlfriend, do you?" Arielle guessed. "Did she leave you?"_

_He sighed. "She was never really with me to begin with."_

"_I'm Arielle," Arielle said, standing. "This is Phoenix," she pointed to the other woman. "And those two are-"_

"_Flame Legend Vargas and Crusher God Uda," the man said, smiling. "I personally know Vargas, but I've only heard stories of Uda. You may not recognize me without my armor. I used to be Ice Warrior Karl. But now, my name is Karl Vaike."_

"_Ah. Karl. It's good to see you my friend," Vargas said smiling. "How are you?"_

"_Do you want the truth? Not good. Conner's mother left after he was born, I couldn't finish school, and I don't live in the best of places."_

"_Come live with us then." Arielle said softly._

_Karl looked up, shocked. "But-" _

"_You live someplace not fit for a child, you can't keep up a steady income because you didn't get to finish school, and you want the best for him. We understand it perfectly," Arielle explained._

"_These two we're with were in the same situation. And we took them in as well," Phoenix said. "So c'mon. You live with us now."_

_Karl blushed. "But I-"_

"_Come with us," Arielle and Phoenix said at the same time._

_Karl nodded slowly. "O-Okay."_

* * *

_~Flashback End~_

Karl, though not as prideful as Vargas, Kuda, Zegar, Luther, or Uda, wasn't one to accept free help. So, while Phoenix and Arielle watched the kids so that the parents could go to school, Karl would be the handyman around the house, repairing and replacing things, and sometimes cooking when Phoenix or Arielle was unable to do it. Now, Karl worked at an insurance firm, and was well liked among the customers, who thought he was positively delightful. Karl was kind-hearted and noble, and though he never got too angry, Eva was a thorn in his side that sometimes tested his patience.

Karl sighed. "She's not getting Conner. I wish she wouldn't do this suddenly."

"If you want her gone," Phoenix picked up a spoon and lobbed it behind her, implanting it in the apple Arielle was about to eat. Said woman looked at the fruit in her hand that was impaled with a spoon. "Now you're doing spoons?! And without looking?! What kind of witchcraft do you use?!"

Phoenix grinned, getting up as the doorbell rang. "Dark magic," she winked.

Yanking open the door, Phoenix smiled. "Hey Frank."

Frank smiled. "Hiya Phoenix. Got a call saying the patio is wrecked and something is wrong with the deck?"

Phoenix nodded sadly. "Sorry. I know this is what? The fourth time you've been here this month?"

"It's actually sixth, but who's counting?" He joked.

"Hey Frank!" Arielle called, waving. "You got your work cut out for you!"

Frank raised an eyebrow. "So, the deck isn't in shambles and the awning isn't torn?"

Arielle grinned. "Well…"

Phoenix face-palmed. "I am so sorry about this Frank. You must get tired of coming here all the time."

Frank just smiled, making his way out to the patio. "Arielle and your crazy friends keep me and my boys in business, so by all means, keep it up."

Phoenix shook her head. "Well, the railing is busted everywhere, the deck has a giant hole in it, the stairs have disintegrated, the pool was on fire-"

"How was the pool on fire?" Frank asked.

Phoenix shook her head. "Don't. Just don't. And the awning is just horrible."

Frank shook his head, chuckling. "Things are never dull around here, are they?"

Phoenix nodded gravely. "Never. But you might get another call. Sasha's on her period and I haven't been able to get to the store for any chocolate."

"Yikes!" Frank winced. "You have my personal number though, so call me when you need me. And I don't mind at all; the wife loves to hear the stories about how your friends break your home time after time."

"How is she anyways?" Arielle asked. "How's the baby?"

"Good. Little tyke loves getting into everything. And the oldest one is about to have a birthday."

"Oh really?" Arielle said. "When?"

"In about a week," Frank answered, writing down the damages from the patio.

"We should stop by," Phoenix said.

"I'm sure he'd love that. But, no offense, don't bring your friends. My son's having a Batman party and-"

"We're coming." Arielle demanded, a true and true Batman lover. "And we're not bringing the misfits." She grabbed Frank's shirt. "Will Batman be there?"

Frank laughed. "We have a guy."

"PHOENIX! WE'RE GOING TO THAT PARTY!" Arielle shouted, running out of the room to mark a calendar.

"Party?" Zegar asked, poking his head out from the kitchen. "Who's having a party?"

"YOU'RE NOT INVITED!" Arielle shouted from the living room.

Zegar shrugged, but growled when he saw Frank. "What's _he _doing here?" He narrowed his eyes, baring his teeth.

Phoenix grabbed a spare pen from Frank's shirt. "May I?"

Frank nodded.

Phoenix flicked the pen at Zegar, nailing him in the chest. "Idiot! Frank is here to fix the deck and the patio since Luther and Uda ruined it!"

Zegar rubbed the sore spot. "Why does he always come though?"

"Because it's his job!"

"Why do you always pay him so much?!"

"With all the work he does for us, he deserves the extra tip!"

"Why tip someone who just fixes things?! What else can he do?!"

"You're getting on my nerves Zegar!"

"I'm nowhere near your nerves!"

"Screw you!"

"We can do it anywhere, anytime, any position!"

"…" Phoenix gaped at him, face red with a blush.

"…I mean it. Just let me know babe."

Arielle burst out laughing from the other room.

* * *

~Four Hours Later~

"Alright Phoenix. The awning is fixed, the patio repaired, and the deck still needs work, and unfortunately, I don't have the tools for it right now. And I don't have the things for the pool yet either. So how about I come back tomorrow let's say at about-"

_**CRASH! **_

"_Ah! Dammit Luther!" _They heard shouted from upstairs.

"Or I stay for a while longer and get a quote about the other damages?" Frank finished his earlier statement.

Phoenix sighed, rubbing her temples. "That would be best. Just, cover your ears."

Frank pulled out his earplugs and inserted them, smiling at Phoenix when he did.

Phoenix glared up the spiral staircase. _"LUTHER! UDA! WHAT IN THE NAME OF CARDES WAS THAT?!"_

"…nothing," two voices called down fearfully.

Arielle smirked. "Hey Phoenix?"

"Not now Arielle," Phoenix grumbled.

"But Phoenix-"

"Arielle, please no."

"Phoenix," Arielle said seriously. "I honestly think, that that was the toilet just now."

Phoenix gave Arielle a strange look. "Arielle, I doubt that was the toilet."

"Wanna bet?" Arielle asked, smile on her face. "Five bucks says that it was."

"Fine, but it wasn't-"

"_DAMNIT LUTHER! I WAS USING THAT!"_

"_AND I WAS USING THE TOILET, YET YOU RUINED THAT!"_

Phoenix sighed regretfully, sliding a five over to Arielle. "Shut up and don't say a word," Phoenix growled. Taking another breath, she crossed her arms. "_**LUTHER! UDA! YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO GET DOWN HERE OR YOU BOTH ARE ON YARD DUTY AND CHORES FOR THE NEXT TWO MONTHS!"**_

Frank calmly pulled his earplugs out. "I'm going to need new earplugs," he murmured, staring down at the small rubbed stoppers. "Or you're just getting louder."

"With those two, you have to be assertive and-

**CRASH!**

Frank jumped back as a shower of glass rained down near him. Phoenix just shook her head, having jumped back, and Arielle laughed.

Luther and Uda, panting heavily, stood in front of her, looking a bit put out.

Phoenix began tapping her foot. "What happened?"

Uda pointed at Luther a bit childishly. "Luther decided to flush the toilet while I was in the shower!"

Uda, or Crusher God Uda, his old name, was the god of lighting who was banished from his high-standing point among the gods for committing a grave crime. Now, he was Uda Ryans, almost-normal guy. He often fought with Defiant God Luther in order to determine who between the two of them was the better god. Their battles though, always ended in a tie. Uda's wild heart was only calmed when he met Holy Ice Selena, who claimed to be in love with him no matter who he was or what he did in the past. And Uda loved Selena dearly. However, Uda was enraged and heartbroken when he caught Selena sleeping with Luther, who Selena was truly in love with. Luther and Uda, although they fought together often, had a tentative friendship with each other. Wanting revenge on Selena, and Luther as well, Uda slept with Selena's best friend, Lucina. But Uda didn't know that Lucina fell in love way too easily and was in love with him. Selena, who knew this fact quite clearly, became enraged with Uda for sleeping with Lucina, and Lucina for putting herself into a situation where her heart would be broken. Ud a was angry with Selena for lying to him and Luther for his betrayal. Uda doesn't want his son around Luther or his daughter, and tries his best to keep him away from her and fills his head with angry thoughts at Luther and his spawn, Jessabelle.

Known as Defiant God Luther, Luther was often a wild spirit, not one to know when enough was enough. He often got into a fight with Crusher Uda, fighting to prove who was the best, but their fights always ended in a tie; there was never a true victor. Hope of calming down came in the form of Holy Ice Selena, who had feelings for Luther. But, Uda had feelings for her, causing a bigger rift between the two gods. Luther was crushed when Selena claimed to love Uda, but she told Luther it was a lie and got together with him. This caused Uda to become enraged and sleep with Lucina, Selena's best friend. Knowing her friend fell in love too easily, Selena was angry with Uda, who was angry with her for lying. A bigger rift has formed between the two because of it, making them fight even more in each other's presences. Luther tried to keep his daughter away for Uda's son, fearing that Uda may use his daughter as a way to get back at him for what he did by making his own son Jared use Jessabelle like Luther used Selena.

Phoenix sighed irritably. "You two are unbelievable. The _toilet _is messed up because of you two. I don't even wanna know what happened now. And then the window?!"

"Well," Arielle started. "You did say that they only had five seconds to get down here from upstairs, so I can see why they-"

"Arielle, you had the next five seconds to shut up before I deck you in the tit."

"I'm back!" Kuda announced, jumping in through the window with a large bag slung over his shoulder.

Arielle sighed. "Kuda, what did you steal?"

Kuda twiddled his thumbs. "Remember how you two were bummed when Johnny Depp didn't answer the invitation to be in that screenplay you two co-oped on?"

"Did you steal Johnny Depp?!" Arielle screamed.

"Kuda, didn't the thing with Terrance Howard teach you anything?!" Phoenix shouted, hitting him over the head with a frying pan.

"Take him back now!" Arielle commanded. "…But get his personal number first!"

"_Arielle_!" Phoenix shouted.

* * *

~An Hour Later~

"We're home!" Sasha called into the house.

Vargas looked up as all the kids filed in, kicking off their shoes and hanging up their jackets. "You're home early. I thought school wasn't out for another-" he glanced at the clock. "-three hours."

Jared hopped over the back on the couch, plopping down. "We got released early because there was an accident in the science lab and dangerous chemicals were floating through all the air-vents. We had to evacuate."

Vargas raised an eyebrow. "How was there a chemical accident?"

"Well," Sasha twiddled her thumbs. "The guest scientist teacher wasn't paying attention and told us to mix some vinegar with baking soda and when we were done, she didn't have another lesson plan, so she let us watch her mix some chemicals, and mixed carbon and oxygen and forgot to do it in the fume hood."

"Doesn't carbon and oxygen make carbon monoxide? A poisonous gas that can kill someone?" Vargas asked, already dreading the answer.

"We didn't know that at first and the substitute told us it would be a good experiment," Conner explained.

"We were wearing our chemical safety masks though," Esther added helpfully. "So we didn't breath in the fumes."

"But until the school completely airs out, we can't be there for a while," Vincent finished.

Jessabelle sniffed the air. "Ooh, what's that smell? It smells really good!"

Vargas smiled. "Well, Arielle was whining about how Phoenix stopped making cookies, so Phoenix decided to make a huge batch of cookies for everyone."

"PHOENIX! ARE THE COOKIES DONE?!" Arielle shouted from upstairs. "I SMELL CHOCOLATE CHIPS!"

Phoenix came running down the stairs, bolting into the kitchen. "I'm taking them out now! Finish your next piece!"

Vargas watched Phoenix in a mixture of amusement and adoration. She moved confidently around the kitchen, pulling out six trays of cookies and setting them on the stove. Since no one could decide on one cookie flavor, Phoenix would end up making many: chocolate chip, sugar, oatmeal and oatmeal raisin, macadamia, almond, peanut butter, and cinnamon. Except, cookies never lasted long in the mansion, so Phoenix would only make cookies one every two weeks, making an invisible limit on how many cookie they were allowed each day.

"Vargas, can you come in here a minute?" Phoenix called. "I can't reach the cookie jar!"

Vargas chuckled, going into the kitchen and seeing Phoenix struggle to grab the large Batman cookie jar (courtesy of Phoenix. She gave it to Arielle as a present when Arielle's first big piece of artwork blew up. Arielle decided that it was good to share with everyone, as long as no one broke it). He came up behind her and reached up, grabbing it from the highest shelf. Phoenix was pouting as he pulled the jar down. "Why do you put it so far up there?" Vargas asked.

"I keep it up there because Robin is the tallest and the only one who can reach up there. But since he doesn't like sweets all the much, I keep it there to keep the others from raiding it at night," Phoenix explained.

Vargas chuckled, settling his hands on either side of Phoenix's body. Phoenix was blushing at their close proximity. "V-Vargas?" She squeaked, cookie jar forgotten.

Vargas looked at Phoenix's lips, which were only a few inches away from his. He could smell her breath from here, a wonderful chocolate scent that told him that she had nibbled on a cookie. Her eyes were half-lidded and her lips were a tiny bit parted. All he had to do was lean down…

"Do I smell cookies? Are they finished or what?" Arielle asked loudly, coming into the kitchen. Vargas and Phoenix jumped away from each other, both blushing profusely. Arielle lifted an eyebrow. "Why are you two blushing and why are the kids home early?"

"You scared us and there was a dangerous chemical accident at the school," Vargas answered, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

"Oh," Arielle said, swiping a chocolate chip cookie from the plate and taking a large bite. "Ah! Hot!"

Phoenix shook her head fondly. "What did you expect? I just took them from the oven."

Arielle was still fanning her mouth, making Vargas and Phoenix laugh. "Hey Vargas?" Phoenix asked once she chuckles died down.

"Hmm?"

"Can you call the kids in here for me while I fix them a snack? I wanna talk to them."

Vargas nodded. "Alright."

"Ah! Still hot!" Arielle shouted, making Vargas laugh as he went into the living room. The kids were all watching _Soul Eater, _except for Conner, who was doing his homework on the floor. "Will you guys all come into the kitchen? Phoenix wants to talk to all of you."

"I didn't do it!" Sasha shouted defensively.

"You aren't in trouble. She just needs to talk to you all," Vargas explained.

Robin paused the episode, and they all walked into the kitchen, where Arielle was still blowing her cookie and Phoenix had plates and drinks out. "Alright. Sugar cookies for Sasha, along with skim milk. Oatmeal for Jared and Gatorade. Chocolate chip for Jessabelle and some strawberry milk. Almond for Vincent and whole milk. Sugar for Eideolous with plain water. Oatmeal raisin for Elijah and some grape juice, macadamia for Esther and water. Peanut butter for Conner with chocolate milk and grapes for Robin along with a V8. Am I missing anyone?" Phoenix asked, giving the respective snack and drink to each teen.

Arielle raised her hand. "Um, hello? Coffee and chocolate chip for Arielle."

"Yeah, you aren't as important as they are," Phoenix said, sitting on the counter.

Arielle flipped her off, chomping off a large piece of cookie.

Phoenix rolled her eyes. "Now, no one is in trouble. I just have some news. You guys remember that business man you met when you were younger, Eze Richards? Well, his daughter had…an unfortunate accident, and Eze has nowhere else to send her."

"Why doesn't he just keep her with him?" Conner asked politely.

"Eze has the huge Richards Company and travels the world almost every day, and that isn't a suitable environment for a growing teenage girl. So, he asked us to take her in for him for a little bit."

"What about her mother?" Esther asked quietly.

Phoenix sighed. "Her parents are divorced, and the mother isn't allowed to see Secilia anymore, so legally, she can't take her in. One of the maids who raised Secilia knew us because of a business deal we helped Eze with, and we gave her out contact information after an unfortunate Grand Canyon situation that Arielle caused," an eye roll was directed to Arielle.

"What happened?" Vincent asked.

Phoenix pinched the bridge between her nose. "Arielle decided to scare us all by jumping over the railing of the tourist spot on the viewing platform into the Grand Canyon. If Kuda hadn't used his tail to grab her around the waist, Arielle would have been a pancake."

"Can we have pancakes for dinner?" Conner asked sweetly. The kid may have been borderline genius, but even he liked food, and was usually distracted by other things if he heard about anything culinary related. They all did.

Phoenix smiled. "Of course we can."

"Yay!"

"You're getting off track," Elijah reminded.

"Oh, right. Anyways, she asked if we would take her in until Eze got his affairs straightened out, and we agreed. So, in about a week, maybe two, Secilia will be living with us for a while, and I want you all to make her feel welcome. She's really sweet and has been through a lot, so please be nice to her." She looked at Sasha. "So no 'breaking in the new girl' Sasha, and Jared and Jessabelle, no fighting, alright?"

"No promises," Jared said.

"I'll try," Jessabelle said, glaring at Jared.

"Well, I guess," Sasha agreed.

"Good," Phoenix nodded. "Oh, and expect a visit from Maxwell and Cardes-"

"Where are my little darling babies at? Uncle Maxie's here!"

"Now actually," Phoenix said, rolling her eyes.

Creator Maxwell, as he was formerly called, was the God of Creation back in the days of Grand Gaia. However, to normal mortals, he was Maxwell Adams, the biggest man on the stock-market in the Adams Corporation worth 3.7 billion dollars. He was a genuinely good man, and openly gay. He had no qualms about it, even being one to embrace his feminie side. On Phoenix's 21st birthday, since Maxwell somehow knew she and Arielle would be intertwined the with heroes, he gave her an erotic novel collection, saying 'You never know,' and winking. On Arielle's 21st birthday, he got her Batman strippers, saying it was something they could all enjoy.

Maxwell waltzed into the room in an expensive Armani suit, his white hair in a long braid that reached mind-back while some strands touched his forehead. "Come give Uncle Maxie a hug!" He opened his arms.

The teens all ran to Maxwell, embracing him fondly. Once they were done, Phoenix and Arielle got hugs, and so did Vargas, though he was a little embarrassed to get one.

"Now now, what's this I hear about you two taking in Eze's daughter?" Maxwell asked as he sat down, taking a bite out of a sugar cookie. "Mmm! These are exquisite as always Phoenix. You _must _give me your recipe."

Phoenix blushed. "It's my mother's recipe. I'll write it down for you."

"How'd you know we were taking in Eze's daughter?" Arielle asked, idly drawing on the table with a wash board marker (where she got it, Phoenix never knew. Arielle had them everywhere!)."

"I know a lot darling," Maxwell answered, taking another bite of cookie. "And I must say, Emelia is torn up about the whole thing. She still misses Secilia. Would you two please send her a letter telling her what's going on?"

"Sure," Arielle answered, writing on the table.

**Dear Emelia,**

**It's Arielle and Phoenix again. We have news on Secilia. Apparently, there was an accident where she was living, and she has nowhere to go since Eze has his business trips and doesn't want her** **exposed to that, so we're taking her in. Miss Pross sent us a picture of her, and we'll be glad to send a copy of it to you. Eze hasn't spoken much to us, but then again, only during his business balls-**

Arielle giggled. "Business balls."

**-do we (mostly Phoenix since I was banned from ever going to one of those again) ever see him. Secilia, last we heard from Miss Pross, wants to meet everyone since they were seven last they saw her. She's sound excited to see everyone again and meet Phoenix and I. We'll be picking her up about a week from now. We'll write you another letter when she gets here, and probably have her write you one. Keep in touch. Here's mine and Phoenix's personal number and email.**

**Me: 404-243-9786. XxArielleBatmanCarterxX **

**Phoenix: 404-957-9357. CrimsonPhoenixFire **

**Keep in touch.**

**Sincerely,**

**Sierra Arielle Armani-Laurenti Carter &amp; Chardonnay Phoenix Alejandra-Ramirez Brown **

"And, done!" Arielle announced proudly.

"…Why didn't you write it on paper?" Conner asked innocently. "Now you'll have to do it again."

"…Damn it," she grumbled.

Maxwell shook his head. "And Cardes likes _you _the best?"

"She's likeable once you get past her obvious insanity," Phoenix supplied helpfully.

"It's not insanity. It's mental hilariousness," Arielle protested.

"Can I some more grapes?" Robin asked, holding up his empty bowl.

Phoenix smiled. "Or course you can."

"Can I have another sugar cookie?" Sasha asked.

"Depends. How many did you have already?"

"Um…four?"

"No."

"Aw man!"

* * *

"Everyone, I need to talk with Phoenix and Arielle alone, so can you guys go into the living room?" Maxwell asked politely, swiping anther cookie. "It's very urgent."

Mumbles of consent met his ears as the teens filed out. Vargas, after Maxwell glared at him, silently followed. Once they were all out of earshot, Maxwell set his cookie down and stared at the two women. "Now that they're gone, answer me. How is everything with the magic?"

A year before the two had taken in Uda, their first guest, Maxwell had appeared and had told them that their destinies would become intertwined with the destinies of warriors who needed a break from fighting and death and the horrors they had seen. Maxwell had told them that they would also face their own share of horror, so Maxwell gifted them with magic: Light magic for protecting someone, and Dark magic to attack someone if need be. Light magic was easy to control, but Dark…

Arielle sighed. "Neither one of is has lost it again. But with Eva trying to get Conner and Eze ignoring his daughter, we might snap."

"Light magic is easy. All we have to do is focus really hard and we can manipulate that when need be," Phoenix added. "But I just hope I never lose it again. I don't even know who we are anymore."

When they lose control of their emotions, Phoenix and Arielle become far different people. Scolding one of the kids was one matter, but pure unadulterated rage was another. When Phoenix was angered past point of normality, she loses her kind-hearted personality and becomes a sadistic torture machine who can go inside someone's mind and pull their worst fears from them and make them reality. She can also make a void of space around a person and suffocate them and kill them is she pleases. Phoenix loses her kindness, and sometimes her sanity when intense feelings of anger consume her.

Arielle is the same way. When she becomes enraged, her power explodes. She's usually in complete control unless she gets as mad as Phoenix does when she loses it, and then she manipulate how her powers work. She can open empty voids and dark holes that can consume someone, or banish them to another dimension. Like Phoenix, she loses her sanity and her kindness and goes haywire. Her eyes also change, becoming a fiery red color that can draw a person in and make them a puppet of Arielle's control.

Maxwell sighed. "I was hoping things would progress more, but I guess not. It's good that you haven't lost it, and better that you have such an easy time, but I saw something that concerns me. Chardonnay," when people used her first name, it was serious business. "As your nickname phoenix implies, you do have a fiery heart. However, your heart might burn out, caught up in the conflict of two burning flames of passion, so bright, they'll not only burn you up, but burn themselves out. You need not feed the flames too hot, else you'll all be extinguished. And Arielle," he turned to the other woman. "Your heart will drown in the dark waters of your destiny. You need to try and float, else it will pull you under and consume you. You'll be swamped in it, unable to break free. And the two who pull you under may freeze or lose themselves in darkness."

Arielle and Phoenix looked at each other fearfully. Maxwell never joked around when it came to his prophecies. It was what led them to finding all the heroes stationed in the house, no matter how messed up they were.

* * *

_~Flashback~_

"_Do you see him?!" Arielle called to Zegar as he peered into an alleyway._

_Zegar growled, storming over to her. "No," he grumbled. "And I doubt Uda and Vargas have made any ground either."_

"_This is ridiculous," Arielle muttered. "Luther betrayed our trust and did something unforgivable, yet we have to help him out? Phoenix is a much better person than I am. I would have flat-out told Maxwell no."_

"_She must be," Zegar agreed shaking out his wet hair. "She was the one who froze his mind a year ago. Either she feels bad or she's doing this as a favor to Maxwell. And I highly doubt she did it out of her own kindness. There are some things even she can't forgive."_

_Arielle looked up at the pouring rain. "I don't know what goes through her head sometimes, but I think she's doing this for Maxwell. You saw how pissed she was at Luther back then. Probably finding out that he has a daughter who's got a severe fever right now and Luther becoming an alcoholic made her give in. I doubt this is just for Luther's sake."_

_The rain picked up, drenching them both. No one had time to dress properly or get umbrellas. Maxwell seemed pretty insistent that they go find Luther instead of wasting time dressing themselves. There was a possibility a young girl would die, and the father was killing himself slowly. Maxwell needed them to find Luther and his daughter before it became too late._

_On the other side of town, Vargas put his jacket around Phoenix's shoulders, pulling her under the awning of a close flower shop. "Any luck?" He asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder._

_If Phoenix was uncomfortable, she didn't say a word, only stepped closer. "No, but I know he's around here…I feel his energy source somewhere, I just can't pinpoint it in the rain. It's like a small fire that's dying out, and the rain is speeding that along." She shivered, pulling the jacket tighter around her, stepping even closer to him. "We need to find him. No one should be out in this weather, not even a child or an ignoramus like Luther. I only hope we can find him before it's too late."_

_A loud wail pierced the air, causing Phoenix and Vargas to jump slightly. Phoenix quickly took off in the direction of the sound, boots pounding on the pavement and throwing up puddles as she turned corner after corner, ducking into a dark alley behind a bar. Vargas had lost track of her at first, but had followed her pounding footsteps, using the sound to follow her. He too ended up in the alley, watching Phoenix stand over Luther. "You're pathetic," she was saying. "You drove away someone who loved you after you broke a friend's heart, and now you're drowning yourself in alcohol because your heart is broken. Payback is a bitch, isn't it?"_

_Luther took another sig from the bottle, slumping down even further. The child in his arms wailed again, and Luther shifted her so that she wasn't getting as pelted by the rain as he was. "She loved me," he slurred. "She really loved me, but I didn't know that at first." He took another swig, coughing up some of the liquid. It spilled down his bare chest and seeped into his daughter's blanket. "Then, when Jessabelle's two months old, she dumps the news that she needs space from me and that she can't handle raising a baby with me. And them," he gestured widely, the bottle flying from his hands. "She basically tells me that I'm gonna be a bad father. Can you believe her?! She leaves her child and I'm the bad father?!" The baby began to cry, face beet red with fever. Phoenix sighed and picked up the baby, meeting no resistance from Luther. Luther looked at Phoenix, who was feeling Jessabelle's forehead._

"_Luther! The baby, Jessabelle, is burning up and she feels too light! Get up off your ass and come with us to the hospital! We are going now to check both of you, and then you're coming to live with Arielle and I!"_

"_But-"_

"_No buts! This is for your daughter's sake and for your own! If I hear any protest, I will force your ass to come with us! I may not like it, especially since what you did was horrible, but you and your daughter are wasting away and we can't let you two die."_

_Vargas hauled Luther to his feet. He wobbled a bit and nearly fell over, but he managed to keep his balance, if only slightly. "Now come on!" Phoenix demanded, wrapping Jessabelle in her arms and tucking her blanket tighter._

* * *

Maxwell had done what he did in order to protect the ones of the old age who were struggling and would find a home with people they could trust. If it wasn't for him, who knows what could happen.

~Three Hours Later~

"Dinner's finished!" Phoenix called, setting plates down onto the table. "Pick what kind you want!"

Like with cookies, Phoenix always ended up making different kinds of pancakes to feed everyone when they had pancakes for breakfast or for dinner since no one could decide what kind they really. She usually made chocolate chip, blueberry, strawberry, peanut butter, and banana pancakes.

"Ow! Damnit!" Arielle shouted.

"What?!" Phoenix panicked.

"I got pancake on my wrist!" She whined, shaking off her burnt wrist.

Phoenix shook her head. "Go get the TV set up. We got some Naruto to watch while we eat."

Arielle crossed her arms, pouting. "I know when I'm not wanted." She grabbed a plate of pancakes and walked into the living room.

Vargas hopped up onto the counter, grabbing a stack of strawberry pancakes. "What're you two about to watch?"

Phoenix just smiled, grabbing a stack of plain pancakes and following Arielle into the living room. "We're about to re-watch Naruto."

_**SLAM!**_

"_You're re-watching Naruto without me!"_

Arielle and Phoenix screamed as Cardes slammed into the room, angry. "You two," he breathed. "Were going to start without me?"

"…Yes?" Arielle said.

Cardes growled, quickly rushing into the kitchen, grabbing some pancakes, and plopped onto the couch. "I love this show! Maxwell won't let me watch it anymore."

Cardes, back in Grand Gaia, was known as Cardes the Malevolent. He only knew to destroy, the darkness in his heart fueling him with rage, making him unable to form a rational thought. He would just tear down and destroy. After his defeat, the darkness retreated, and Cardes was released. Being reborn, Cardes was now known as Cardes DeMal. Evolent , vice-president in Maxwell's company. He was also Maxwell's husband of 10 years. Maxwell was the one to break Cardes out of his lonely shell, reminding him of the wonders of the world around him. Cardes had been ever grateful to Maxwell for teaching him the wonders of the world, and that soon turned to adoration, which soon turned to love, which Maxwell returned. The two were as happy as could be together, glad they weren't stuck in that horrible shell of destruction they were once trapped in.

Cardes had white hair like Maxwell, only his eyes were goldish-bronze in color. His hair was long, falling to his shoulders, and he normally kept it loose and shaggy. Since he wasn't one for being in suits too often, he was normally in a grey pullover hoodie and worn jeans.

"Well sit down and shut up! The chuunin exams are here and Temari's about to fight TenTen!" Arielle exclaimed, taking a huge bite of pancake.

Vargas shook his head fondly. Arielle and Phoenix were still kids at heart, and that much wouldn't change.

* * *

~Later that night~

Arielle was making rounds for the night, checking in on the rooms of everyone to make sure they were getting any last minute homework out the way. She knew that Robin, Vincent, and Conner were with Phoenix to finish their Spanish homework (having a guarding that was part Hispanic had its perks), Elijah was watching TV in his room, Jared was playing a sports video game in his room, Esther was reading a book, Jessabelle was painting her nails, Sasha picking out her clothes for the next day, and Eideolous was talking to his father Rayden.

Rayden was a very serious warrior back during the time of the war with the gods, not one to show much expression. Rayden continued to be that way all the way into being reborn again. Ophelia, who loved him dearly, tried to get him to love her back, but Rayden, although he did love her, did not know how to express, especially since he wasn't one for affection. Being an incredible lightweight when it came to alcohol, Ophelia successfully gets Rayden drunk for one night with him where she can pretend that he can show he loves her. Nine months later, Eideolous was born a splitting image of his father. Ophelia couldn't deal with the fact that her somewhat lover, and now her son, wouldn't express that they needed her or loved her, and she began to get depressed. Suffering from post-partum, Ophelia killed herself when Edeiolous was four months old. Rayden, who was deeply in love with her and couldn't show it, cried his heart out when he stumbled upon Ophelia's cold, lifeless body, laying in the baby's room in a pool of her own blood...

Rayden had done everything he could to make sure that his son didn't turn out like him, but Eideolous was very serious by nature. He did in fact express his emotions, though because he was a bit challenged with it, it came off differently. Everyone still knew what signs to look for when Eideolous was trying to show an emotion.

Arielle checked all the rooms, finding all the teens preoccupied with their own activities, went to her own room, intending on finished her next piece before Phoenix got mad.

Vargas was making his way up to his room after helping Karl put the rest of the dishes away when he saw a sight that made him freeze.

That bastard Zegar had Phoenix pressed against the door to her room, lips against hers. Vargas's blood began to boil as he watched the bastard groping Phoenix's ass, her legs around his waist (Vargas guessed that Zegar did that on purpose. Phoenix was far too proper to do something like that in the hallway of all places) and arms gripping his shoulders. Zegar groaned, rubbing himself against Phoenix. Red in the face, they both pulled apart, Zegar smirking as he did.

"Zegar," Phoenix whispered, panting. "W-We shouldn't have done that."

"But you responded to it," Zegar said, rolling his hips. "Quite actively if I do say so myself."

Phoenix yelped as Zegar kissed her again, shoving his tongue down her throat. Phoenix's eyes soon fluttered shut, and Zegar opened his own, the red pupils glinting with barely concealed lust. He broke the kiss this time, and smirked at Phoenix, who was still blushing. "U-Uh, we shouldn't have-"

Zegar put a finger to her lips. "Relax babe," his grin turned predatory. "For now, I'll try to hold myself back from you but," he squeezed her ass again. "It'll be _very _hard," this was said with a slow hip roll. "Until next time."

Phoenix, still blushing, ducked inside her room, shutting the door. Once it was shut, Zegar turned, stalking over to Vargas and grabbing him by his collar. Slamming a hand over his mouth, Zegar dragged Vargas to his own room, throwing him onto the ground. Vargas glared up at him. "What in the name of Cardes was that?!"

Zegar smirked. "I'm just beginning to stake my claim. Enjoy the show?"

Vargas stood up, crossing his arms. "You're just taking advantage of her! Leave her alone!"

"Or what? I know you saw what happened. Phoenix didn't deny what happened, nor did she push me away. She was quiet involved in it in fact. She wants _me _and not you, so stay away."

Vargas turned his head, glowering. He didn't see it when Zegar snuck behind him, one arm around his neck. Vargas gasped. "What're you-"

Zegar's other hand snuck to Vargas's crotch, beginning to roughly massage it. "And I know you want me too. I see the look in your eyes when you watch me. You want me, but you want Phoenix. Now, I'll let you have the both of us if you admit that you want me and let me claim Phoenix first." The hand massaging his groin squeezed his ass, making him yelp. "I would however like to tap this fine ass right here, so you'd better choose quickly." This was said with a hard smack against his ass, Zegar giving his ear a rough lick.

Vargas ripped himself away from Zegar, panting. "You're such a pervert," he gasped out.

Zegar smirked. "But you love it. And so does Phoenix."

"I won't let you get to her and hurt her. Phoenix is precious to me-"

"As she is to me!" Zegar protested. "You think I don't care about her!"

"You'll just use her. And I don't want to see her hurt. So don't you dare lay another finger on her, and touch me again and I will kill you," Vargas growled, storming over to the door. He had taken one step out of the room when Zegar called, "But if you kill me, what will our precious Phoenix think of you then?"

Vargas slammed to door closed, not bothering to dignify Zegar with a response.

* * *

~A Week Later~

Running. Running. Run. That's all I knew to do. From who? No clue. All I knew was that if I stopped running he would get me and that's something I can never let happen. How long have I been running? My legs feel as if they are on fire. Is it day or night? I can never tell. All I know is I can never stop. If I stop, I die. And I can't let that happen.

Secilia James woke up in a pool of her own sweat. The covers and comforter of her bed had been kicked to the end of the bed and the pillows had found their way to the floor. She paused to catch her breath and looked over to the wall that had a clock hanging from it. It read 2:03 p.m. She sighed, swinging her feet onto the floor only to feel the vibrations of the moving train. A knock at the door pushed Secilia out of her stupor and made her stand, staggering to the door as the train hit a rough patch of track.

"Come in," she called to the figure at the door.

The door swung open with a loud creak, the old hinges squeaking as the door opened all the way, spilling afternoon light into the dark room. "Miss James you breakfast ...well I guess you could call it lunch, is ready" a voice said.

Secilia looked up to see her favorite person in the world, Miss Sarah Pross, her hand maid.

"Oh dear not _the dream_ again, was it?" She looked at Secilia's disheveled look with a worried expression, placing a hand over her forehead.

"Third time this week. It's getting worse." Secilia explained as she stood to stretch her stiff muscles.

"Are you feeling okay love? You look like a ghost!" Miss Pross exclaimed.

Secilia looked into the mirror and wasn't surprised at what she saw. Her usual blonde curls were in tangles and her clothes were crinkled from dry sweat and from tossing and turning in her sleep. Her eyes were still wide and slightly crazed looking and her skin was as pale as a sheet. Ever since the accident she hasn't looked alive; she had looked like an empty shell, exactly how she felt.

* * *

_~Flashback~_

_"MISS JAMES! PLEASE, YOU MUST WAKE UP!" A voice cried from above her._

_Secilia's head was pounding and this voice wasn't helping her at all. She made a grunting noise and tried to move her arms but realized she had no control or feeling below her shoulders. She could feel her neck and her hair, which was plastered to her head with sweat. Her whole body was numb, unfeeling. Slowly Secilia opened her eyes to see two figures above her and a bright red light. _

_"Oh gods! I thought you were...never mind I need you to lie very still Secilia," the low voice croaked. She looked up to see Thomas, her loving butler, trying to lift something that looked really heavy._

_It was easy to not move, seeing as she couldn't feel anything but her face._

_"Where are we? Whaa..what's that l-l-light?" Secilia stuttered, coughing. Something thick was filling her mouth and thoart, setting her already burning lungs on fire. It was getting harder to breathe._

_"It fire Miss James. The institute is on fire. Now please stop talking and save your strength." Rhe voice she knew as Miss Pross shook, her voice thick. Was she crying? Secilia couldn't tell._

_Getting a better grip on the situation she now realized that an oak beam had fallen from the ceiling, capturing her under it in the process._

_"M-m-mom?D-dad? Am I gonna..." She couldn't bring herself to say the words._

_Miss Pross choked back tears. Knowing that these two people were the closest people she had as parents, she called them as such. "Of course not! Don't even think such things! Now you remember our trips out to the Garden of Eden, yes?" Thomas asked, panting with effort._

_"Of course; that garden in France that never ends," Secilia smiled when she remembered that Miss Pross fell into the daisies and almost got the three of them kicked out. After they realized it was an honest mistake, they were able to roam freely, as long as they were more careful._

_"Well, I want you to close your eyes and think of the moment you first saw the garden. All the wonder and beauty of the flowers. Soak it in once more." At this point, Thomas' voice was strained with effort. Secilia did as instructed and closed her eyes. She thought of the moment the rose bush pricked her finger and Miss Pross used her magic to heal her._

_What she did not feel was her body being pulled from under the beam and now moved to the right, to safety. She opened her eyes to see that Miss Pross was helping Thomas up from the floor. Secilia smiled as she saw Thomas hug Miss Pross as if a long time had passed and they were old friends meeting again. The moment of bliss was short lived as a part of the roof came crashing down, aiming straight for the two. Before Secilia could scream Thomas had mustered up the last of his strength and pushed Miss Pross across the room. Secilia didn't see what happened next all she knew was she heard a scream that would never leave her nightmares...and it came from her own mouth. She saw Miss Pross's horrified look as Thomas disappeared under the roofing. She saw Thomas's regretful face, filled with sorrow and shock, as the debris fell, burying him under it. There was no way he could have survived._

_Secilia blacked out. _

_A week later Secilia had woken up in the hospital to find that Miss Pross had healed her. During this time she also was given the bad news of Thomas. As she thought, by time rescue teams had made it and put out the fire, all which remained of Thomas was a charred body._

_Secilia had to learn the hard way that not even magic can heal a broken heart._

* * *

_~Flashback ends~_

"Well, let's get you dressed then. We will be at the Sister's Mansion in about an hour," Miss Pross explained, opening the curtains in the room.

Secilia shook the memory from her thoughts and turned to the maid. "How did father know them again?" She asked as she started to get ready for a shower.

"Oh, how does your father know anyone? They were business partners of his and they kept in touch," Miss Pross said, handing her a towel. "Well, he knows one of them most of all, but he was the one to help both of their careers take off, so to repay him, they make appearances at his business meetings and parties."

"Really? Hmm," Secilia hummed as she walked over to her suit case and opened it up. She looked through it until she found the blue sun dress and black flats she was looking for. "Can you fix my hair once I'm dressed?" She asked Miss Pross.

"Of course dear, I'll be back in 20 minutes with your lunch. I'll do it then," she smiled at her and exited the room.

Secilia sighed and walked into the bathroom. She turned on the water in the shower and wait for it to warm up. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror. Even though her hair is a mess and her skin was really pale she still managed to look beautiful. She looked at her thin lips that had a natural bright red that made her look like she was always wearing lipstick. She had a piercing in her nose that wasn't really noticed by people unless you were uncomfortably close to Secilia. Her electric blue eyes had always made Secilia feel uneasy because they looked just like her fathers', who had a soul-piercing gaze.

Secilia didn't know a lot about her father except that he was one of the great gods and did not want to be a part of the human world, not at first. At the time, Secilia believed that her father ignored her because it reminded him that this is actual reality and he is not in the time of the Grand Gaia. However, her father had eventually adjusted and started his own company, the same company that tore their family apart.

Secilia knew even less of her mom only knowing that she tried to fight for custody of Secilia until she realized that Secilia had the same powers as her father. Known as Thunder Legend Eze, her father was known for attacking and almost killing a woman that he knew could defeat him. Her mom had helped him and his power grow to the legendary thunder power that was known all throughout Grand Gaia.

Knowing little of her two parents, Secilia still had the idea of that woman being her mother because at the age of two her mother just disappeared. She would get letters, but there was never a return address.

* * *

After a minute or two the water finally warmed up and Secilia jumped in. The shower was quick and before she knew it Secilia was dressed, fed and getting her hair dried by Miss Pross. "You're going to love the sisters. I've known them for some time know and they may seem weird at first, but they have the best intentions. "Miss Pross said, combing slightly calloused fingers through the blond locks.

"Tell me more about them." Secilia said as she took a swig of orange juice.

"Well as you already know, Miss Arielle is a famous artist that has many pieces hanging throughout museums everywhere. She is known for her insane ideas that she comes up with at random moments, "Miss Pross said as if she was remembering a fond memory.

"Like what?" Secilia asked, now curious.

Miss Pross chuckled to herself. "Okay. So, I was visiting them one night and at 2 a.m. Arielle comes bursting into my room talking about the Grand Canyon. Now please remember this was 5 years ago so I was only 25 years old and a bit confused at this point. She packs everyone into the private jet and we head to the Grand Canyon. While no one is looking she talks to Kuda, another guest staying at the house, about something. The next thing I know Arielle had jumped off the edge of the viewing platform! Before anyone can do anything Kuda's tail comes out of nowhere and grabs her by the waist. She comes swinging back up with tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. I've never seen Phoenix so angry and Arielle could do track after that I tell you! The way she and Kuda ran from Phoenix was Amazing!" By the end of the story both Secilia and Miss Pross were laughing.

"Seriously? She took everyone on a cross country trip just to scare the hell out of them?!"Secilia asked.

"Aha yes. That's Miss Arielle for you. You'll never get another human like her. The only person who can stand all of Arielle 24/7 is Miss Phoenix."

"What is she like?"Secilia asked. The name was ringing a bell in the back of her mind, but she couldn't place it.

"Oh, she is the sweetest lady you will ever meet. She has helped so many people, including the people she has invited to live with her and Arielle. She has over 50 fiction novels published in libraries all over and is working on a new book now. She is known for having fun but also knows when to be serious , unlike Miss Arielle who thinks the world is one big joke. I guess that's why they get along so well; Phoenix helps Arielle stay focused and Arielle gives Phoenix a laugh when she needs one." Miss Pross stated.

There was a loud whistle and a low groaning sound as the train started on the brakes.

"Oh my, it's been an hour already. Oh Secilia you look beautiful... Thomas loved this dress" Miss Pross said, voice breaking.

"I know; it's why I wore it."Secilia whispered.

Miss Pross made a crying sound and pulled Secilia into a crushing hug but she didn't mind. "Oh my dear look at you. All grown up." She pushed Secilia back to look her in the eyes. "Who said you could do that?"

Secilia laughed. "Life is just so unfair, hmm?"

Miss Pross laughed as well. "Yes my dear life is, but it is also beautiful just as you are"

"Oh, don't make me cry! I just finished my makeup!"Secilia exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood.

The train finally came to a stop and the two girls left the compartment to step out onto the open train station.

* * *

~At the Sister's House~

"PHOENIX! WHERE ARE MY NICE PANTS!?" Arielle yelled over intercom.

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?!" She yelled back, shuffling noises heard in the background.

"JUST TELL BE WHERE MY PANTS ARE WOMAN!"Arielle yelled again.

"I put them on top of the dryer Arielle. They got into my load by mistake!" She heard Robin yell from downstairs.

"Thanks Darling!" Arielle yelled back.

She ran down stairs and accidentally ran into someone at the end of the stairs. She looked up to see Uda smirking down at her. "Can I help you?" Arielle said lifting her eyebrow. "Oh no everything's good. I'm just enjoying the view," he grinned. "Oh, and just thought you'd like to know you don't have any pants on," he said, eyeing her up and down.

She scoffed "Well if you would get out me way" she said walking around him. "I could do something about that!"

"Bye Arielle!" He called after her.

She didn't have time to talk so she made a grunting noise and kept walking. Before she could get to the laundry room another person appeared in her way. Karl went to say something to her but stop abruptly when he saw the specific item she was missing.

"Uhhh... Arielle are you aware of your...situation?" Karl said, now blushing profusely.

Arielle chuckled. "You're so cute." She ruffled his hair and kept going.

As she finally got to the laundry room she opened the door to see Phoenix standing without a shirt on. Phoenix was usually without a shirt most times, but not when she had something to do.

"You too?" Arielle asked.

"Yuuup. I think I gave Zegar hope of life after death when he saw me this morning," she said while looking through clothes to find the perfect shirt. "He about died when I walked out me room. Didn't help that my bra wasn't properly on so my boobs were poking out a little bit and he about died of blood loss from his nosebleed."

"Well Uda is still a perv. And Karl is adorable." Arielle said, grabbing the pants off the dryer.

"Did he blush?" She asked, smirking.

"Of course," Arielle replied. "We both know he can't look at us when we aren't properly dressed."

Phoenix laughed at this "Ahhh, he's such a cutie."

* * *

After they finished getting dressed, Arielle called everyone down for breakfast. Phoenix made pancakes (again) but didn't have time to stay and eat.

"COME ON ZEGAR! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!" Arielle yelled over the intercom.

"I'm comin' I'm comin'" Zegar grumbled, staggering into the room.

"Zegar... where's your shirt?" Arielle raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not wearing one," he answered simply.

"That's the point. Go put on a button up."

"BUTTON UPS ARE STUPID!"

"YOU'RE STUPID!"

"YOU DO KNOW I CLAWS ATTACHED TO MY HANDS ARIELLE!?"

"COME AT ME DOG!"

"OKAY! YOU TWO CHILL! ARIELLE GET YA ASS IN THE CAR AND ZEGAR, SHIRT NOW!" Phoenix yelled storming back into the house.

"Yes ma'am" he winked at Phoenix and headed back up stairs.

"Bloody idiot," Arielle grumbled to herself.

"Come on," Phoenix said, throwing her arm over Arielle shoulder.

"It's way too early for this" Arielle grumbled.

"It's for a good reason," Phoenix reminded.

* * *

~3 Hours Later: San Diego Train Station~

*Arielle's POV*

"ZEGAR! GIVE ME BACK MY SIGN!" I yelled at the blasted idiot running down the escalators.

"YOU LOOK STUPID HOLDING UP A SIGN! I'M HELPING YOU SOCIALLY!" he yelled back.

"YOU BOTH LOOK LIKE IDIOTS!" Screamed Phoenix from the top of the escalators. "NOW STOP MESSING AROUND!"

"GIMME MY SIGNNNNNN," I whined as Zegar held it above my head. I tried to grab it but the foot-and-a-half difference between us was too much.

"I love it when you throw yourself all over me. It's hot," he said. I could just hear the smirk in his words.

I scoffed and stomped on his foot. He immediately dropped the sign in favor of clutching his foot and I grabbed for it. "Good dog," I beamed.

"Why you-"

Suddenly we heard a clearing of someone's throat. I looked over to see Miss Pross giving me that judgmental look she always gave when she was irritated with me.

"PROSSY!" I shouted, knowing that that nickname angered her. I opened my arms for a hug but she ignored me, instead giving me a pointed look and said, "Hello Sierra Arielle."

I growled because she also knew I hated when people used my first name. Phoenix did it to piss me off and I hated it then.

"And uh...who is your friend?" She asked looking at Zegar catiously.

"Oh don't mind him. He's a homeless man who stole my sign," I took a step closer to her and whisper, "I think he has fleas."

This made Pross take a few steps back.

"ARIELLE" Zegar yelled "I. DO. NOT. HAVE. FLEAS."

I chuckled as Phoenix finally decided to show herself. "Oh hello Miss Pross and how are you today?" She asked politely.

I heard Zegar copy her in a baby voice and I laughed. Phoenix then decided to give us a death stare and if looks could kill…Eh. I'd have been six feet under a _long _time ago.

"How about you two go sit on that bench over there hmm?" She said. Even though she said it as a question we knew it was a demand.

"Fineee," we said in unison. I crossed my arms and plopped myself down on the bench.

"Psst..." Zegar whispered, poking me.

I ignored him, closing my eyes to try and get some lost sleep back.

"Pssssst!" The bastard did it again!

Still, I ignored him.

"Pssssssssssst!"

"WHAT?!" I yelled, opening my eyes to glare at Zegar. He had his DS in his hands.

"Mario Cart?" He smirked down at me.

"You're on," I grinned as I pulled out my limited edition Fairytail 3DS out. It paid to be a famous artist.

* * *

*Phoenix's POV*

As I talked with Miss Pross she updated me on the fire and Secilia losing Thomas, a man who was her father figure since her dad was a power hungry idiot. I swear, that man would probably try to work even if his own office was on fire. That's how much of an idiot he was. She also explained that Secilia was shy but loved art and cooking which was great. Now, Karl and I weren't the only ones who had to make dinner.

As we talked I explained the situation at home and she completely agreed with me that Secilia would fit right in. And she should have. When they were about 8, Eze had finally taken a day off to let her spend some time with the other kids. Secilia had really enjoyed herself and threw a massive fit when it was time to go. I figured since she had always been around business cods her whole life, interaction with kids her age would be good for her.

After ten minutes Arielle and Zegar joined us again as a blue eyed, blonde haired girl comes walking up to Miss Pross. "Everyone, this is Miss Secilia Nicole James." Miss Pross said.

A chorus of hellos rang from us, though Zegar's was more a grunt. Bastard.

"H-h-hi " she stuttered. I looked over her. She had very blonde hair that was the color of lightning. This made her eyes and lips really pop. She wasn't very tall, under 5'5 if I had to guess. She kept looking at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

That would soon change.

"Well, this is where I must take my leave," Miss Pross stated, tears brimming in her eyes. She lifted Secilia's chin to look up at her. "I will see you in one week's time and don't you stop counting the minutes till I'm back."

"I'll be counting the seconds," she said, smiling up at the maid. "I love you," she whispered.

At this point Pross was teary eyed. She put Secilia into one of the most bone crushing hug I've ever seen.

"Goodbye love," she whispered, pushing a piece of Secilia's hair behind her ear.

At that moment I realized that this girl has lost everything and is now living with strangers.

'_She must feel so lonely,'_ I thought.

As Miss Pross let her go, I told Zegar to grab her stuff. I let the three walk ahead before I pulled Pross aside. "I'm making you a promise now that no harm will come to that girl. I know you're iffy of mine and Arielle's living style and that's fine not many people can see how we work but we do and you know this but I just wanted you to know that I will protect her and I promise she will makes so many friends at that house from what you told me she seems like a sweet girl. So please don't worry." I took a breath because I had said that all in one go. Man, I could be a rapper. I could write, I loved to sing, and I loved music. Hmm…new career choice?

At first she just looked shocked but then she finally gave me a hug and said in a voice so low I almost didn't catch it. "Thank you."

I smiled and hugged her back.

* * *

~In the car on the way to the house~

~Secilia's POV~

I sat in the back of an expensive looking with this giant tanned man who kept looking at me as if I had something on my face. Apparently Phoenix noticed this because she yelled at him and he stopped, turning to stare out the window.

"So Secilia, are you nervous to meet the gang?" Arielle asked as she drew on the car window with an expo marker.

"Arielle, what did I say about marker in the car?" Phoenix grumbled, making a turn.

"I was asking Secilia a question!" Arielle protested. "Let her answer before you bitch at me for the markers. Secilia, I'll ask again: are you nervous to meet the gang?"

"A little," I answered shyly.

"Don't worry. We don't bite…all the time," the man with the claws said, smirking at me.

"Zegar..." Phoenix warned.

"I'm just saying, some of the boys, they go a little overboard when they- "

"We're here!" Arielle interrupted him.

I looked out the window to see a giant mansion that had the words "Sister's House" printed on the front gate in curvy lettering. The elaborate gates swung open slowly, and I was suddenly reminded on the castle from Sleeping Beauty, only it was a mansion.

"Wait, are you two…?"

"Oh no honey! It's just a saying the town came up with for us and it kinda just stuck so now we're known as the Sister's," Arielle explained.

"That's good, because my fantasy of having a threesome-" Zegar started, smirking.

"ZEGAR!" the sisters yelled at the same time. This made me laugh.

"Hey! The girls got a sense of humor," he said noting that I was chuckling.

"Honestly Zegar it's been less than two hours. Give her time to adjust to our way of life." Phoenix sighed.

"Did you just say "our way of life"?" Arielle asked incredulously. "What are we, nuns?"

"Now THAT is a fantasy. Nuns gone wild- "

"ZEGAR!" The two yelled again, both blushing.

I laughed again. I had a feeling that I was gonna like it here.

* * *

*3rd person POV*

As the four entered at the front gate Vargas beeped them in and met them at the door.

"Vargas, this is Secilia," Phoenix said.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you." He said shaking her hand.

"And you." Secilia said.

"Grab her stuff for her would ya Vargas?" Arielle said while throwing him the keys to her 1960 black Chevy Impala.

"Sure thing" he said, walking past the four, and glaring at Zegar who growled at him.

The four walked into the house and Phoenix made a call over the intercom."Secilia's here!"

"MY NEW LITTLE NIECE!" Secilia heard a voice call back.

"Oh boy." Phoenix groaned. " I forgot about him."

Arielle patted Secilia on the shoulder and said "Be brave." As she wondered up the twisted stares that seemed to never end.

* * *

*Secilia's POV *

I watched as a man in a very nice suit slid down the stairs and came running toward me. He hugged me and took a step back, chattering at about a mile a minute. "Oh look at you! You're gorgeous! I just LOVE your hair. I'm so jealous! Is that you're natural color? Oh it doesn't matter," he waved a hand dismissively. "CARDES COME LOOK AT OUR BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL!"

"Uhhh…" I looked to Phoenix for help.

"Okay um, Maxwell? Let her catch her breath for a second," Phoenix said leading me towards a dining room with a giant chandler.

"Oh of course. I'll come and visit you later when you're all settled in. Ta Ta!" He said while snapping his fingers and disappearing in a cloud of glittering smoke.

"Was that the legendary Creator Maxwell I've heard about all my life who was known as a fierce warrior?" I asked, baffled. Dad told me that he was one of the biggest threats to Grand Gaia, but he was…eccentric and a bit flamboyant.

"Mhmm " she said." And yes before you ask, yes he is gay and extremely open about it. Trust me, he'll have fun with you since he's in love with your hair."

"Oh...okay."

She rolled her eyes and grunted softly, walking back to the intercom. "When I said Secilia was here it meant come meet her not ignore me."

"We were giving Maxwell time with her first," A voice replied.

"Wise choice. Alright, come on down now." She walked back over to me and smiled. "Trust me we don't expect you to remember every ones name at first, so don't feel obligated to-" She was cut off by a crashing sound as two kids came running in the room. One had fiery red hair and the other had jet black hair.

"You two. Sit. "Phoenix pointed to some seats beside her.

"Yes ma'am!" The black haired girl joked, saluting.

Phoenix rolled her eyes and pointed at the black haired girl "This is Sasha. You know the man you were sitting by in the car? Yeah, this is his daughter and he has a boy around here somewhere." She then pointed to the red head. "And this is Vincent. You just met Vargas right? Well, this is his only son."

"Hey." Sasha said, uninterested. She began to pick at her nails, which were a shocking red color.

"You're hot," Vincent said, smirking at me.

I started blushing at this but Phoenix just yelled at him and hit him over the head. Three more entered the room and introduced themselves. "Hello my name is Robin and I see you have already met my sister." The tall boy who I had to look straight up to see smiled and offered his hand. I took it but instead of a handshake he kissed the back of my hand. This made me blush even more.

"I should have thought of that!" I heard Vincent say.

Smack! Phoenix hit him again, making Vincent pout and hold his head.

Robin ignored Vincent and went on, sitting beside Sasha. "These are my two good friends Esther and Eideolous," he said, gesturing to the two new guests. They both shook her hand and sat down beside Robin. Esther was very pretty she had lavender hair that was in a braid and glasses. Eideolous looked very muscular and scary. He just smiled slight at her and grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table, taking a small bite.

Phoenix was about to say something but before she could, we all heard a blood curdling scream come from Arielle.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU TWO!"

Soon everyone was running up the stairs. Vincent grabbed my hand and pulled me towards and elevator. Wait, they had an elevator?! How did I not notice that at first?!

"You're not gonna want to miss this." He laughed. This made me smile.

* * *

*Arielle POV*

Upon entering my room I had found Uda and Luther fighting again but this time they had destroyed my painting that was due in less than 24 hours.

"WHAT THE HELL PEOPLE?! DOES MY ROOM LOOK LIKE A BOXING ARENA?!" I screamed at the two idiots staring at me dumbfounded. Before they could respond I threw them out the window using dark magic. Phoenix came bursting through the door.

"Okay, who the fuck- ohhhhh shit!" She was looking at me. "Arielle you need to calm down man. Your eyes!" She said, throwing me a mirror.

I looked at my reflection and saw that my eyes had changed from the silver color they usually are to a dark violet color with sparks of a light purple. This happened when I lost control of my emotions. It happens to me and Phoenix. When we are put in a situation that is not so comfortable we soon get this darkness that consumes us with rage and power that only the other can stop. There was only one time we both lost it at the same time. It was the day Uda first started living with us.

* * *

_~Flashback~_

_Uda was on the verge of tear as Holy Ice Selena, now known a Selena Johnson, laid in his bed…naked…with another man. Not only was it another man but it was his sworn enemy, Luther, sitting there just smirking at him. He wrapped an arm around Selena's shoulder, none-too-subtly hinting the hickies littering her neck and shoulders. His love had betrayed him…with his enemy._

_Before she could respond Uda rushed out looking for Arielle and Phoenix. _

_"ARIELLE! PHOENIX!" He cried out. His heart was broken, his mind in disarray. He rushed around the corner and smacked into someone. He looked down to see Arielle with worried look on her face._

_"What happened? What's-"_

_"Uda!" Selena came running down the corridor._

_Phoenix finally caught up with Arielle and helped her get up._

_"No! You stay away from me!"Uda screamed at her._

_"It's not what it looks like!" She said, looking as if she was a deer caught in head lights._

_"What happened Uda?!" Arielle asked him, ignoring the hardly dressed woman in the hall._

_Luther came swaggering down the hall in only boxers. "Sorry man, but I guess she likes a guy that can deliver," he said while smirking at the crushed Uda._

_Before Uda could say anything, all anyone heard was Arielle saying "Oh."_

_The two girls eyes were now glowing different colors. Arielle's soft silver-plated eyes were now deep with a violet that almost looked the color of blood. These eyes bored into Selena and it made her feel as if somebody had shoved their hand through her chest. Phoenix's brown eyes that shined when she smiled were now replaced with the color of red that looked as if she could burn through you by just blinking. The woman was staring at Luther, by just doing this he was already on his knees, trying to breathe as if something was not along him oxygen. "Did you know in space there is no oxygen and if you were to attempt to breath the air in space, your head would expand and expand until finally: POP! Well, this won't be the same as that." Phoenix smiled down at Luther. A sadistic smirk found its way to her lips as she made a whip appear out of thin air. This whip was made of metal and was burning from Phoenix just touching it._

_"How long have you lied...?" Arielle whispered angrily._

_"I-I-I didn't want anyone to g-g-get hurt..." her voice trembled, her body shaking as Arielle advanced a step forward._

_"That's not what I asked." Arielle said calmly. She then proceeded to use dark magic to pin Selena up to a wall by her neck. "I've never been in the state of rage before and trust me when I say I won't hold back. You've broken my best friend's heart and upset my family member. I have never been this mad so I don't know what I'll do. So the only advice I am giving you is to answer. The. Question." Arielle growled. _

_"3…years…" she said breathlessly. Arielle's hold on the once great warrior tightened. Her eyes were now a bright purple that seem to be coming out of her eyes like a purple fire. She was ready to crush Selena's throat when Uda stepped in front of her view._

_"Arielle…you need to stop, " he said looking directly into her eyes. She looked at him confused. He had just had his heartbroken! Why would he want her to stop?_

_"No…No! No! I can't! No! She needs to pay for hurting you!" Arielle screamed. There were now tears of purple running down her pale cheek._

_"The power! You're not ready for it! I don't know why Maxwell gave it to you if he knew it was uncontrollable, but believe me! It's too much! If you kill her it will consume you making it more powerful than you can believe! It'll consume you and overwhelm you until you can't stand it! Please...I can't lose you too." Uda was now draping off Arielle's side, too tired to stand on his own. Something he said must have gotten to Arielle because the next second they were both on the floor, tears spilling out her silver eyes as Selena tried to get away. Phoenix had done a number on Luther and was now shouting at the back of a retreating Selena._

_"AND IF I EVER SEE YOU AGAIN I'LL LOCK YOU UP AND TORTURE YOU FOR YEARS ON END!" She screamed throwing pieces of a broken chair at the sobbing goddess. She was seconds away from going after her and finishing what Arielle started, but she still had a prick to deal with._

_When Phoenix made it back to Luther, she hauled him up, wrapping her hands around his neck, and dragged him to the room he had just betrayed Uda in. Dragging him over to the window, she threw open the frame and held Luther out the open window, slamming his back against the sill. "I swear to you," she growled. "If you ever come back here, I will do worse then what I did to you just a few minutes ago." And with that, she threw him out the window of the four story house. He'd be fine; he used to be a god and he still had those powers. If a four story fall killed him, that was just pathetic. For a swift moment, it looked as if she was about to go after him but stopped and looked at the two crying on the floor. A motherly instinct kicked in and she was back to Phoenix the brown eyed girl. She wrapped her arms around the two and whispered." We will get through this. Not only was Selena your lover Uda, but she was mine and Arielle's friend and we trusted her." She knew this wasn't really helping so she just kept repeating "We'll get through this," over and over again._

_How, she didn't know yet, but she'd figure it out._

* * *

_~Flashback Ended~_

I closed my eyes and breathed in and out. I thought of how the kids couldn't see me like this. I open my eyes again and noted the color was changing back.

"Sorry... sometimes those idiots just pissed me off," I said while taking another deep breath.

"I got you gurl." Phoenix grinned up at me." MAXWELL!"

"Oh no don't he'll think I did it." I pleaded.

"I told you I got you!" She said smiling.

Maxwell entered the room, looking around the room, spotting the mess on the floor.

Phoenix stood in front of me. "No, wait Maxwell. She didn't do this the two idiots Uda and Luther did this. They ruined her newest piece and I was wondering if…" she trailed off, but the meaning was clear.

"Oh well…" He looked over at me, and I probably looked like I was about to burst into tears. "I guess I shouldn't judge so fast! Sorry darling! Well, I can fix this up real quick!" He said smiling at me.

I returned the smile and watched as he put everything back together as if it was a puzzle. It just liked new! Like it wasn't scorched or torn, and was exactly as I had it before. Even though the painting wasn't exactly finished because I didn't sign it yet, but it was as if two assholes didn't destroy it.

"Thank you Maxxie!" I said cheerfully, throwing my arms around him in a tight hug.

"No problem babe," he smiled, at me, returning the hug. He turned and he was about to leave when he did a double take and looked into my eyes. He became very serious as he walked over to me a cupped my face. "You need to control your temper. Phoenix becomes sadistic when the power takes over but you...you could power a universe with the power behind your eyes. Or you could destroy it. Trust me when I say this: If you do not learn to control this power not even I nor Cardes can save you when it starts to control you."

After this he kissed me forehead and gave Phoenix a kiss on the cheek and then disappeared in a whoosh of glittering smoke, sending the sparkles all over the room.

I heard yelling from under my window and I looked over to Phoenix. She sighed, pinching the bridge between her nose. "Come on," she groaned.

We walked downstairs and out the backdoor to see Uda, struggling in the roses (which Phoenix and I planted) with Luther in a headlock. They both saw me and stopped fight immediately.

"SORRY! SORRY! SORRY!" they both yelled at the same time, beginning back away slowly.

I rolled my eyes and looked at the group outside who were cheering them on. Secilia, Vincent, Sasha, Elijah, Zegar and Cardes. Wait... CARDES?!.

"LOOK IT'S MY BAE CARDES!" I yelled running over to him. He laughed as he swung me around and put me down.

"Oh gods of creation, speak of the devil of destruction..."Phoenix mumbled.

"You're not still mad about the shampoo prank are you?" He said smirking in Phoenix's direction.

"MY HAIR WAS PINK FOR TWO WEEKS! I COULDN'T LEAVE THE HOUSE!" She yelled, waving her finger at him.

"Yeah, but it was funny," Cardes said, chuckling. This made me laugh. Phoenix didn't think it was funny, if her expression said anything about it. "It wasn't all that funny," she muttered.

"Well it kinda was..." Arielle grinned, twiddling her thumbs.

"ARIELLE!"

"I'm just sayin'…"

* * *

~Phoenix's POV~

About an hour later, after all the idiots calmed down, we decided to lounge out in the pool for a while. Of course, all the girls wore black t-shirts over their bathing suits; it was a rule Arielle and I (mostly me) thought up to keep the boys from making inappropriate gestures or getting the wrong ideas. It was also to stop pervs like Zegar (who protested heavily to the rule until Sasha began to develop as woman) and Uda (who was a generally good person when he wasn't fighting with Luther, and he was a perv for the sake of being pervy) from saying things about Arielle and I (who had more than enough development between for all the girls in the house) and to save us from smacking them. It was also a save for Karl, who would have probably died from all the blood rushing to his cheeks at the sight of one of us nearly naked.

Zegar was unfortunately, for him at least, whining about how since most of the teens were mature enough, it would be okay to wear two-pieces around them.

"For the last time Zegar, I'm not stripping off my t-shirt. There are kids around!" I yelled, a bit pissed.

"But Phoenix!" He whined again. "You never show any skin! The only hope I have is when your shirts mysteriously go missing or in the mornings, and you barely show anything then!"

"Let it go Zegar," I muttered, watching Secilia interact with everyone. So far, she was getting along nicely, though Sasha was trying to enlist her help in making trouble, Eideolous was making her a bit uncomfortable, though that was mainly because his height and expressive eyes said it all, Vincent was making her blush, and Conner was being the only normal one. I was surprised Secilia didn't remember any of them.

* * *

_~Flashback~_

_(3__rd__ Person)_

"_Eze!" Phoenix shouted, running over to the man and wrapping him in a large hug. "You finally tore yourself away from your work to come here!"_

_Eze grunted, softly shaking out of the hug. "You left almost about a hundred emails on my woek address and left about 20 voicemails about it. TO spare my secretary her sanity, I decided to come out."_

_Phoenix pouted. "You're no fun since you've been reborn. C'mon! Everyone is here with their kids and they're all having fun! Let Secilia join in!"_

_Eze sighed. "Miss Pross, her nanny, is getting her out the car now."_

_Phoenix crossed her arms, giving him a stern look. "Nanny? Why'd you hire a nanny?"_

"_Work has-"_

"_Work, work, work! That's all you ever talk about! We all came out here today to get away from work and relax, and you're telling me you can't do that? Not even for the sake of your daughter?"_

_Just then, Miss Pross, the green-eyed, raven-haired nanny, walked out to them, a small blonde child following her. "Here she is Mr. Richards."_

_Eze picked Secilia up, though he looked a bit uncomfortable with it. "Secilia, this is a friend of Daddy's. This is Phoenix. Say hi."_

"_H-Hi," she stuttered._

"_Hi sweetie," Phoenix greeted. "Let me introduce you to the other kids. Would you like that?"_

_Secilia nodded slowly. "Yes please."_

"_Such a lady!" Phoenix cooed, taking her out of Eze's arms. "C'mon Eze. Everyone's waiting."_

_Eze grudgingly followed Phoenix, who led them all over to a secluded area by a large lake. One of the hugest picnic baskets ever was spread out across the grass, where the biggest buffet of food was at. At the edge of the blanket was an arrangement of children._

"_Secilia," Phoenix began. "These are some of the kids of Daddy's friend. We have Sasha, Robin, Esther, Jared, Jessabelle, Eideolous, Vincent, and Conner."_

"_Hello," Secilia said shyly._

"_Hi!" Sasha said energetically. "Come play with us!" She forcibly took Secilia's hand and led her over to the other children. When she was out of earshot, Phoenix made Eze sit down and shoved a plate of food in his hands._

_It was silent for a moment, everyone staring at him, until Arielle got fed up. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Sh shouted, breaking the tense silence._

_Eze jumped. "What're you-"_

"_You have a small daughter that you barely see, that she barely interacts with children her age, and you're just letting her meet everyone?! We've been friends for years Eze! You helped us start our careers, but you can't do us a favor by letting your daughter play with kids her own age?!"_

"_I-"_

"_Secilia already lost her mother and barely sees her father, and you mean to tell me you can't do us a solid and let her see her extended family?!" Phoenix ganged in on him too._

"_Wait-" _

_Phoenix grabbed his shirt and pulled them nose-to-nose. "Listen to me Eze Richards! If you do spend at least nights or weekends with her, I will personally come and find you and disembowel you, do you understand?!"_

"_But my job-"_

"_Screw your job! What about your daughter?!"_

"_I'm trying!" Eze protested. "But I was more a fighter and a warrior before, and all I know now is business! I can't be the father Secilia needs because I don't know how!"_

"_So, instead of trying and spending time with her, you go off and leave her alone with strangers? That nanny probably knows more about her than you do," Phoenix said coldly._

"_Phoenix," Vargas said gently. "That was harsh even for your standards."_

"_It's the truth!" Phoenix protested. She stared at Eze, chocolate brown eyes staring into electric blue. "Thunder Legend Eze you listen to me: spend more time with Secilia. If you don't, I don't know what could happen to her mentality."_

* * *

_~Flashback End~_

That bastard didn't listen to me, and now look at where we were. Secilia was still nervous around everyone and probably still felt like a stranger.

I had an idea.

"Vargas! Karl!" I called sweetly. "Can you come inside and help me with something special?!"

Zegar perked up. "I'll-"

"No Zegar," I cut him off, following the two men into the house. "You just sit out there and look hot, alright?"

Zegar smirked, reclining on his chair. I rolled my eyes.

"What's up Phoenix?" Karl asked.

I smiled. "I want to throw a welcoming party for Secilia. Just a thing to let her know that she has a place here."

Karl nodded slowly. "She still does seem a little shy. I'm sure she would appreciate it."

I clapped my hands. "So you guys are on board? Yay!"

Karl chuckled. "Anything. Besides, after all the help you've given us, it's only fair we help you out as well."

"Good," I agreed. "Vargas?"

Vargas nodded, smiling at me. "I'm on board. It's a great idea."

I threw my arms around them both. "Thank you! Thank you!"

Vargas laughed. "Anything for you."

The two pulled back, still smiling. I had to smile back. "Okay, so will you two tell everyone about this right? Just, try not to let Secilia know what we're doing. I don't need her finding out. I want it to be a surprise."

"Of course," Karl agreed. "We'll make sure she doesn't know a word…And that Maxwell keeps his mouth shut," he added as an afterthought. "She'll never suspect a thing," Karl said, walking back to the pool.

I turned to Vargas, who was smiling fondly at me. "You never seem to take care of yourself, do you?"

I raised an eyebrow, tilting my head to the side. "Huh? I always take care of myself."

"You never rest," he said instead, taking a step forward and forcing me back against the counter. "You always give, always worry about someone else's needs, yet you never ask for anything in return."

"I-I just want everyone to be happy and content. I'll worry about myself when everyone is taken care of," I answered.

"And when will that be?" Vargas asked softly. "It's been 16 years, 18 counting the time since Uda's been here, and you've never worried about yourself! You passed out from exhaustion before and you fall asleep wherever you are when you're too tired to do anymore. You work yourself over trying to manage deadlines, coral the kids, keep Arielle from causing mischief, and you're still dealing with us even though we could have left years ago. You never made us leave or help you with _anything, _because you think you can handle it all. When will you take a break?"

I froze, staring into his eyes. I couldn't take a break, not when so much was going on. But…when did I take a break? When Arielle forced me of course, but I never really listened and still pushed myself. Even when I broke my leg breaking apart Luther and Uda when the kids were 7, I didn't rest like I was supposed to. When would I finally let someone else take care of me?

"When will you let someone take care of you?" Vargas asked, as if he heard my thoughts.

"I don't know," I whispered. "I don't know Vargas."

Vargas smiled softly. "Let someone else take care of you," he whispered, leaning down. "Let me be the one to take care of you this time."

For once, I let go of my worries as Vargas's lips closed over mine.

* * *

~Pool, 3rd Person POV~

Arielle smiled, slowly creeping out of the kitchen. Vargas was making progress with Phoenix, that was a start. But she also knew the problems with Zegar. Zegar loved her best friend, just like Vargas did. And Phoenix probably loved them both equally. After the last person Phoenix was with…Arielle didn't like to think about it. Phoenix deserved better, and she knew that both Zegar and Vargas could give her better, but which one? Could Phoenix even be with both or would she kill herself trying to pick between the two? They both loved her, and she loved them both, but she could only have one. And who would it be and how would the other cope? Arielle was scared the two would kill each other over her affection, or maybe even Phoenix. Was there even a way to solve this?

Arielle didn't know, but she would help her friend figure it out.

Somehow.


	2. Chapter 2

As Time Goes On

Chapter 2: Parties and Balls

~Third Person POV~

Secilia was at the breakfast table with everyone, finishing her simple breakfast of fruit oatmeal when Arielle swept into the room, grinning widely. From her experience in the house, it was obvious that Arielle was up to mischief and nothing good would come of this.

"Oh no," Phoenix groaned, putting a hand to her forehead. "You had an awesome dream and now you want to go some random place and recreate it, don't you?"

Arielle nodded. "We're going to Roman coliseum!" She declared, pumping a fist into the air.

"Why?" Elijah asked, setting down his headphones. They weren't allowed to be on their phones or anything while the adults were talking with them, and Arielle had thrown a bagel at Jared the last time he decided to text his friends instead of listening to the adults.

"Because I wanna see what the hype is about and because I wanna run down the stairs in record time. I also want to tame a lion," Arielle explained.

"You want to tame a- you know what, I don't even know why I keep asking. Let's go." Phoenix said, putting her plate in the sink. "I'll call and get the jet ready."

Arielle looked up in shock. "Really?" It usually took a lot for Phoenix to concede, with all the begging, whining, and pleading Arielle was accustomed to doing. Usually, it could take anywhere up to an hour. And yet, it only took 45 seconds. Was she on her period? Or was she pregnant? Was that why she was agreeing so easily?

Phoenix shrugged. "We went to the Grand Canyon because you wanted to jump over the edge. Now you want to go to the Roman coliseum to tame a lion. I have learned to stop questioning you," Phoenix said.

Arielle grinned. "Alright! So, in thirty minutes we leave for the coliseum and I shall tame a lion."

"Yeah!" Sasha agreed, pumping a fist into the air. "Let's go!"

Secilia smiled, amused by all of this, but more than used to it.

It had been a week, seven whole days since Secilia had arrived at the house, and she had gotten along quite well. She had even become friends with Eideolous and Vincent. Vincent was still a perpetual flirt, but she was used to that. Everyone had been exceptionally nice to her and had treated her like she was there since forever. Zegar was still a dirty-talking man sometimes, but she was sort of used to his nonsense. She also found out that two other occupants, Luther and Uda, had always gotten into fights over little things, and usually got chewed out by Phoenix or Arielle. And speaking of those two, Secilia had found out that Phoenix had actually written one of her favorite fantasy novels, and Arielle had painted a piece that her father had taken her to see one time that she fell in love with. Maxwell loved styling her hair, and she always loved the way it looked, so she never told him no when he asked. Sasha had often tried to get Secilia into trouble, to which Secilia never said no, and the two were usually chewed out for it. Robin and Elijah were very alike, only Robin would actually talk to people. Elijah usually grunted, but everyone seemed to know what he was trying to say; apparently, his grunts had different tones, lengths, and pitches to tell what he wanted. Jessabelle and she shared beauty secrets a few times a week, and Jared tried to teach her how to play basketball since every Saturday, the house had a basketball tourney (or any kind or sport tourney since everyone loved sports) since they all had a love for the sport. Except…there were some occupants of the house who knew sports better than others.

_~Flashback~_

_(This is actually based on an actual freestyle basketball game I played against Abbeh. Long story short: she did bad. She scored like to points and was proud of herself. One was a free throw. The other was by mistake.)_

"_Damn it Arielle! You can't double dribble!" Luther shouted at her for the nth time._

_Arielle cocked her head to the side. "Double dribbled? You said to dribble the ball and I did!"_

_Phoenix shook her head. "What you did was a foul."_

"_Foul? I thought dribbling out of bounds was a foul!" Arielle protested._

"_So is double dribbling," Jared explained with a bored look._

_The teams were Luther, Phoenix, Sasha, Elijah, and Rayden on one team, and Arielle, Uda, Zegar, Robin, and Secilia on the other. There were three rounds, and Phoenix's team was winning by five points. Secilia had made two baskets, Zegar had made one, and Arielle got two free throw attempts but she missed both of them. Robin was trying to coach her as they went along, but it wasn't working very well. She kept messing up._

"_Alright, it's our ball," Jared said. "Check it in Arielle." He tossed the ball to her._

_Arielle caught it and looked at it. "Looks fine to me."_

_Phoenix sighed. "No, you have to help him check it in; he'll toss to you, you toss it back, then Jared tosses it to someone on his team."_

"_Why not just toss the ball to one of you? Why do I have to check it?"_

"_It's the rules of the game," Robin explained, beginning to lose his patience. "You have to. Even if we were playing street ball."_

"_I've never heard of street ball. How do you play?" Arielle asked._

"_She's kidding, right?" Zegar groaned._

_Phoenix pinched the bridge between her nose. "Street ball is like a rule less basketball. There's only a couple of rules that go along with it. Like trick shots."_

"_What?" Arielle scratched her head._

"_Like this," Jared said, swiping the ball from her. He ran at the basket and jumped, grabbing the rim. Phoenix ran after him as Jared tossed the ball in. Phoenix caught it before it hit the ground and performed a smooth alley-oop. Jared caught the ball again and swung off the rim, dunking the ball._

_Arielle blinked. "What?"_

_Phoenix sighed. "You know what? Never mind. Let's just try to play."_

_They tried again, with Arielle making numerous mistakes. In the end, Phoenix's team ended up winning, but they were kind of expecting the win. Arielle was pouting the whole way through. At one point, Arielle was confused, so she hid the ball under her shirt until someone explained what was happening. Secilia wasn't upset though; she had actually enjoyed playing with them and had loved getting some exercise in such a fun way._

_~Flashback End~_

"So, everyone get dressed and get your asses in the jet, because we are going to Rome and I am taming a lion!" Arielle declared, slapping down a pamphlet.

Secilia laughed. "I've never been to Rome before. I've heard it was beautiful and that the coliseum was very marvelous. I always wanted to go there, but father never had the time."

"We're not your father," Phoenix said gently, idly thumbing through the pamphlet.

"Obviously," Arielle muttered, gesturing to her and Phoenix's well-endowed bodies, which in turn made Phoenix blush.

"A-anyways," Phoenix continued. "It's gonna be a long flight from here to Rome, so go get some stuff to help entertain yourselves."

"I have things I wanna take, but you'll frown upon the way I use them to entertain myself, especially since most of it pertains to you," Zegar said with a smirk.

Phoenix threw a fork at him, nailing him in the head. "Idiot! Don't say things like that!"

Zegar smirked. "But Phoenix! You said it would be a long flight! I need entertainment unless you want to entertain me?" He wiggles his eyebrows, licking his lips.

"Ewww," Arielle made a face. "You're such a perv."

Zegar glared at her. "You're annoying."

"HEY!" Arielle shouted. "Watch it dog! I will leave you outside!"

Phoenix sighed. "Everyone, finish breakfast and get on the jet."

The kids all quickly finished breakfast, excited at the prospect of another trip. Phoenix called their pilot and told him to be ready in an hour, making sure they were set to go, while Karl cleaned up the kitchen for her, always the reliable one.

"Hurry up! I wanna tame a lion!" Arielle called up the stairs, already ready to go. A bag waited at the door as she impatiently tapped her foot, pacing hurriedly and yelling up the stairs every few minutes.

"Calm down," Kuda said as he place his bag beside hers. "They're almost ready."

"I wanna tame my lion!" Arielle whined.

"We'll get to that," Karl said calmly, placing a bag down as well. "Just be patient."

"Excuse me but patience is Phoenix's middle name, not mine," Arielle crossed her arms. "I don't know the meaning of that word."

"I think it means to at least have some chill," Phoenix grumbled, coming down the stairs with Conner, Vincent, Secilia, and Robin. "We're just waiting for Cardes, Rayden, Eideolous, Sasha, Jessabelle, Uda, Luther, and Jared. And last I checked, Jessabelle was zipping her bag and grabbing her shoes, Sasha was almost ready, Uda was grabbing his travel bag, Eideolous and Rayden were finishing up, Jared was putting on his shoes, and Cardes was drinking a beer," she explained.

"What about Luther?" Karl asked.

Phoenix shrugged. "He's getting the limo ready."

"You guys have a limo?!" Secilia asked in shock. "What don't you guys have?!"

"Well, we have three yachts, two private jets, five limos, fifteen sports cars, eight motorcycles, a cabin in North Dakota, a mansion in Malibu, a timeshare in New York, a timeshare in Fiji, a private island near the Caribbean, a private golf course, and a zoo," Phoenix listed, ticking the things off on her fingers.

"You have a zoo?" Secilia gaped. "Wh-why do you have a-"

"Arielle likes animals," Zegar grunted, dropping a duffle bag to the floor. "Every time she befriends one, she has to keep it. So, Phoenix arranged for her to have a zoo so that all the bastards weren't in the house."

"It's called Fred Zoo," Arielle said proudly. "All the animals are named Fred."

"Then how do you tell them apart?" Conner asked. "Wouldn't it get confusing?"

"I know every Fred by name, shape, and color," Arielle said.

"What if a tiger has a baby tiger? You would name the baby Fred too, but once it grew up and if the daddy Fred was still alive, then how would you know which Fred was which?" Conner asked.

"There would be a Fred Jr." Arielle said simply.

"But tigers have more than one kid in a litter," Eideolous pointed out, coming down with his father. "Would they all be Fred Jr.? And then, how would you tell one Fred Jr. from another? And what about Fred Sr.?"

"They would be one big Freddy family!" Arielle insisted.

"Then how would you tell them apart?" Vincent asked, just to irritate her.

"I would know!" Arielle insisted again.

Phoenix sighed. "Jared! Uda! Sasha! Jessabelle! Are you guys done yet? We're ready to leave!"

Jessabelle hurried down the stairs, toting a designer travel suitcase. "Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to take so long. I couldn't find my mini travel bag or my special hairbrush." She smiled apologetically. "It was the one you gave me for my eighth birthday."

"You still have that?" Phoenix asked. "I thought-"

"It stays by my bedside," Jessabelle admitted shyly. "I make sure I always have it near me."

Phoenix smiled, ruffling her hair. "I'm glad you kept it for all of these years."

"Done!" Sasha announced proudly, running down the stairs with her own suitcase. "Sorry! Grabbed my special deck of cards! Can't go on a trip without them."

"How long will the flight be anyways?" Vargas asked.

"Fourteen hours," Phoenix answered.

"What?!" Jared whined, coming down the stairs. "Fourteen hours! That's too long!"

"It happens," Arielle said. "We were once on a 32 hour flight. Phoenix bout killed me after the first six because I was 'irritating' her," Arielle admitted with a shrug.

"You whined over every little thing, especially the movie."

"You know I would rather watch paint dry than the stupid Twilight Saga."

"That didn't mean you had to bitch at me and whine and complain while I was working on my next chapter. "

"Well, it's only fourteen hours," Arielle said finally, her way of ending the conversation.

"Can't we just get Maxwell to teleport us there?" Jared asked, pouting.

Arielle shook her head. "No. We're going by plane. My trip, my rules. And since I rule this trip, we go by plane."

"That, and Maxwell is spending a romantic weekend with Cardes and told us not to bother him, so go figure," Phoenix added, earning a glare from Arielle.

Jared sighed, crossing his arms. "Fine," he conceded.

~Six Hours Later~

Vargas was upset. Really upset.

The flight was going to be long, and he was prepared for that. He had brought some books, some cards, and his IPod was fully charged, so he had some things to entertain himself. And, Phoenix was sitting next to him, so he knew he would at least have someone he could talk to for hours on end without getting bored. However, there was a wrench in his plans.

The seats were in rows with three seats in each row. Vargas took the aisle seat, and Phoenix sat next to him, but Zegar took the window seat and was glaring at him the whole ride (when Phoenix wasn't looking of course), and to make things worse, Phoenix fell asleep.

On _Zegar's _shoulder.

Vargas was pissed! The damned beast kept bragging silently, shooting him smug looks every time Phoenix made a noise in her sleep and cuddled closer to him (unconsciously of course) or snuggled closer to his body. It infuriated Vargas to no end, especially since Zegar was making no attempt to hide the fact that though unconscious, he was still molesting her in a way. He would wrap his arm around her shoulder and slowly move to her waist, thumbing patterns into her hip. And it was pissing him off.

He wanted to do something, but not with Phoenix between them. If he fought and Phoenix got hurt, he'd never forgive himself.

"Phoenix!" Arielle yelled form the front. "You wanna play UNO?!"

Phoenix jumped, snapping awake. Groggy, she rubbed her eyes. "Huh?" She mumbled. "Wha?"

"Do you wanna play UNO?!" Arielle repeated, holding up the deck of cards.

"Uh, yeah. Why not?" Phoenix agreed, standing. "Whose playing?"

"It's me, you, Karl, Conner, Sasha, Robin, and Luther," she answered, gesturing to the table.

Vargas internally mourned the loss of Phoenix's company (though he found her adorable when she had just woken up and was still in a post-sleep haze), as did Zegar, who openly whined. Phoenix ignored him and sat down at the table, shuffling the cards. "We're using two decks, right?"

Karl nodded. "We might as well, since there's so many of us."

"Alright," Phoenix agreed, dealing out the cards.

The game was uneventful, until Sasha laid down a Draw Four, smirking at Karl. Karl laid down his own Draw Four, smiling apologetically at Robin. Robin just smacked down his own Draw Four, and Phoenix put down her own. It fell to Arielle, who didn't have a Draw Card.

"Wait! How many do I have to draw?!" She shouted.

"Um, about sixteen I think," Conner answered.

"SIXTEEN?! DAMN IT!"

Luther laughed. "What color Phoenix?" Luther asked, being the next one after Arielle.

"Blue," she answered, making him groan.

"Couldn't you have said green?" he mumbled, drawing a card.

"I'm glad she did," Sasha said, slapping down a Skip card. Karl sighed, having only two cards left. The turn went to Robin, who laid down a color change card. "I change it to yellow," he said. Phoenix grinned, laying down a Wild card. "Uno," she said happily. "And Uno out," she declared, laying down another one.

"I always lose at this game!" Arielle grumbled, throwing her many cards at the other female. Sasha regrettably showed her cards: two blues. Karl had a skip and a wild card, Robin have three yellow sevens, Luther had two green and a wild card and Arielle had a myriad of cards.

Phoenix laughed, swatting her playfully. "Why do you always insist on playing this game? You're better off playing a board game."

"Monopoly!" Arielle declared, smiling.

Phoenix sighed. "Fine. Set it up."

~An Hour Later~

"Arielle, you landed on Boardwalk. You own me money," Robin said, holding out his hand.

Arielle forked over the money, though she smirked while she did it. "I have to enough to go around," she grinned, gesturing to the large pile of fake money that was hers.

Robin rolled his eyes, placing his newly collected money in a neat pile with his other play money. "You get lucky with one roll and suddenly you're the master of Monopoly."

"I'm finally winning!" Arielle grinned. "Anywhere you go, you owe me money!"

"But Phoenix has control of Park Place and three of the Railroads. And Robin has all the red properties," Conner pointed out.

"Everywhere else is mine!" Arielle protested, handing the dice to Sasha, who rolled and got doubles.

The game continued, and though she sent for jail a few times, she managed to control enough property to make everyone else pay inordinate amounts of money to her. She ended up winning the round, which made her insanely happy.

~Seven Hours Later: Rome~

"Finally!" Jared cheered, stretching his arms above his head. "We landed! Jeez! That ride took forever!"

"What did you expect? We were on a plane for 14 hours," Sasha said, cracking her neck.

"Well, yeah, but now I'm exhausted," Jared complained.

"Calm down. The time change probably got to you; you've got jet lag. We're checking into the hotel in a few minutes," Phoenix said.

"Yup. We just need to hail a ride there," Arielle commented, walking to the terminal.

~Hotel Lord Byron~

"Alright. Stand back people. I got this," Arielle declared walking up to the front desk.

Luther rolled his eyes. "She'll get us kicked out in minutes."

"I say seconds," Zegar murmured.

Arielle cleared her throat and set her bag down. "Pozdrav. Zovem se Ankica Carter. Rezervirao sam ovdje za kao, deset soba," Arielle said in perfect Latin.

"Aaaa. -Da. Imamo ključeve za sobe. Netko će se vaše torbe za vas. Nadamo se da ćete uživati te ostati ovdje," the concierge replied, smiling at her.

"Hvala," Arielle smiled.

Uda gaped. "You speak Latin?"

Arielle nodding, grinning. "Yep. Perks of being Italian. You learn things when you have a granddad who was originally from Rome and insists that you learn some of your Roman culture."

Phoenix nodded. "The same goes for having grandparents from Spain on your mother's side and grandparents from Dominican Republic on your father's side."

"So that's why the kids are always asking you two for help with their homework."

This time, Arielle shrugged. "Well, it does have its perks. Let's go check in!"

When it came to the rooms, the parents and children were sharing, save for Jessbelle and Sasha, who were sharing a room with Esther. Arielle and Phoenix were sharing a room, which left Luther in a room with Kuda since Elijah refused to room in with his father, and much to Jared's anger, got a room to himself. However, no one really looked over their room or the scenery since they were far too tired from the trip.

~The Next Day~

"Wake up!" Arielle screamed, banging on the door of Vargas and Vincent's room. "Wake up! I want to tame a lion! Let's go!"

"Arielle!" Phoenix hissed, chasing her down with a thick book. She whacked Arielle on the head with it. Hard. "We are in a hotel," she growled. "You don't run down the halls and scream! You might disturb the other patrons staying here!"

"Well everyone needs to get up!" Arielle insisted, rubbing the sore spot on her head. "I came here to tame a lion, and I will tame a damn lion while we're here."

"But that doesn't mean you go around screaming all the time!" Phoenix argued, trying to keep her voice low.

The door opened, and a groggy Vincent walked out. "What's going on?"

Phoenix smiled apologetically. "Sorry sweetie. Arielle wants to get a move on getting her lion."

"But it's so early," Vincent mumbled around a yawn. "And we were on a plane for fourteen hours. Can't we sleep for like, two more hours?"

"No," Arielle said at the same time Phoenix said, "Yes."

The two women glared at each other.

"Arielle," Phoenix said slowly. "Vincent's got a point. We were on a plane for fourteen hours, and if my math is right, they only got about four hours of sleep since we landed. Let them get some more."

"And if my dreams are correct, I need to tame a lion!" Arielle insisted. "Sleep isn't of the essence right now!"

Phoenix sighed. "The breakfast buffet downstairs doesn't open for another five hours," she said softly. "We won't be able to have anything down there."

"…I'm going to bed," Arielle conceded, stomping away.

Vincent stared after Arielle, yawning again. "That woman will do anything for food, won't she?"

Phoenix nodded. "Sadly, she will."

"How does she keep so fit then?"

"All the running she does from me, and up and down the stairs probably," Phoenix answered, shrugging.

Vincent blinked. "I will never understand how you two work."

Phoenix ruffled his hair. "I doubt anyone will sweetie. Now, I got her back into bed, so you'd better do the same." She kissed his forehead. "Go back to sleep sweetie. I'll be the one to wake you up when it's time."

Vincent smiled sleepily. "Thanks…Mom," he whispered, quickly pecking her on the cheek.

Phoenix blushed and smiled. "You're welcome."

~Three Hours Later~

"Rome is beautiful!" Jessabelle gushed. "I can't wait to see the Coliseum! It'll be such an ancient beauty!"

"It'll be such an ancient beauty," Jared mocked, popping a grape into his mouth.

Jessabelle glared at him. "Don't mock me Jared!"

"Don't mock me Jared!"

"Stop it!"

"Stop it!"

"You are so irritating!"

"You are so-"

"Quit it you two," Arielle reprimanded. "No arguing on our vacation. Remember, we're letting you miss three days of school for this, don't make me call the jet and take us back home."

"They weren't even in school. They're on break for the week," Phoenix pointed out.

Arielle glared at her. "Woman, if I am trying to make a threat to them, do not contradict me and tell me that I'm wrong. It doesn't help with the threat."

Vargas shook his head. "I thought you knew that they were on break."

"I didn't," Arielle replied. "I probably knew like, three days ago, and then I forgot."

Phoenix shook her head. "Yet you remember a dream about taming a lion?"

"Lions are cool!" Arielle protested. "And it's inspiration for my next artwork! Just think about how cool it would be." She held her hands up. "I would call it…_Lion's Den,_" She said, waving her hand in an arc. "It'd be beautiful."

"_Lion's Den_ is way too predictable," Uda pointed out. "It needs to be more creative than that."

Arielle put her hands on her hips. "Oh yeah? What would you call it?"

"Well, it's about taming a lion, so I would call it…_Harsh Captivity."_

Arielle froze. "That…was…amazing! I'm renaming it that! Let's go tame that lion before I lose inspiration!"

Phoenix sighed. "Let's get going before she hurts herself."

~Coliseum~

"Whoa," Jared breathed, staring out across the coliseum. "This place is awesome!"

"Yeah," Robin agreed. "The intricate way this whole stadium was set up was an engineering marvel."

"It has so much history behind it," Elijah said softly, exploring where people used to sit and watch. "Did they really use this daily for torture and games?"

Phoenix nodded. "Anything could happen here. If it was desired, it would happen here, and the whole country could watch if they wanted to."

"Didn't they kill those whose beliefs didn't coincide with the Roman's?" Eideolous asked in that quiet way of his.

Vargas nodded. "That was how their system worked. One of the greatest empires of this world could do whatever they wanted, without anyone opposing them." He smirked at Phoenix. "Greatest in _your _world at least."

Phoenix stuck her tongue out at him. "Don't hate."

Arielle growled. "Will you two stop talking history and education so that I can tame my damn lion?!"

Luther shook his head. "Honestly, why would there be lions here? This place isn't still active is it?"

Phoenix nodded. "Actually, every once in a while they'll do some reenactments and have some fun. They actually do have lion tamers, but mostly around tourist season. We'll have to come back at a different time to actually see a lion tamer act."

"But I want a lion!" Arielle whined.

"Look in the cage," Zegar said. "I can hear them talking down there. I hear three, a baby and two adults. Go down to the third gate and lift the hatch. The less violent of the two is down there."

Arielle grinned at him. "Thank you!"

She ran down the steps, tripping over cracked stairs and upturned rocks, stumbling all the way down into the arena. Phoenix followed a bit more slowly, though she stopped suddenly.

'_H…hurt…Too…ot…Need…Ra…Must...Find…Ra…Protect'_

Phoenix froze. "Who said that?"

"Said what?" Karl asked, giving her a worried look. "No one spoke."

'_Mortals…on…oot…hurt…ain…eft…flame…'_

"Who's saying that? Stop messing with me!" Phoenix shouted, looking around. "Where are you?"

'_Voice…soohing…calm…Ra?'_

"Who's Ra?!" Phoenix shouted. "Who are you looking for?!"

Finally in the arena, Arielle smiled. She found a lion, but not just any. It was a huge _white _lion, super rare. Her artwork would be so much better with a white lion in her painting, and she'd take the best care of it while she was sketching it. This would be beautiful.

"What should I call you?" She wondered, staring at the magnificent beast. "Fred…it doesn't suit you. You need a name. A good name."

A name came to her. Where it came from, she didn't know but it wasn't hers. She didn't even think of this name, but now that it was floating around in her mind, it was perfect.

"Leorone," she whispered. "You're name is Leorone."

Red eyes opened slowly.

"Where are you?!" Phoenix shouted again, clambering around the stands. "Tell me where you are! I can help you!"

Zegar, Vargas, and Karl were chasing after her. "Phoenix! Damn it woman! How do you run in heels?!" Zegar shouted after her.

"I never knew she was so fast in six inch stilettos," Karl panted.

"We have to catch her, see what's wrong!" Vargas yelled, jumping over a large hole.

A name. There was a name. She knew the name. How, she didn't know, but she knew the name, clear as day. "Gravion!" Phoenix shouted. "Gravion! Where are you?!"

'_Help…me…please…'_

"Gravion!" Phoenix shouted again. "You have to tell me where you are!"

'_Arena…buried…help…'_

"The arena," Phoenix whispered. "He's in the arena."

Not caring that she could potentially hurt herself, Phoenix jumped.

"Is she crazy?!" Elijah panicked. "She just jumped!

"Oh no! Look! Arielle's in trouble too!" Esther yelled.

It was true. Down in the arena, Arielle was running from a giant white lion.

"Stop!" Arielle shouted behind her. "I meant no harm!"

The lion kept chasing her. She was surprised it hadn't already caught up to her. Its paws were huge and it should have overtaken her by this point. If this was a game to it, she was sure to lose any time now.

"Phoenix!" Luther shouted, using his fire to jet himself over to her. "Damn you Phoenix!"

'_I have to find Gravion,' _Phoenix thought, spotting a large mound of dirt. _'He needs us!' _She knew that the old souls from Grand Gaia were still out there, and she promised Maxwell that she'd protect as many of them as she could if they needed her. And Gravion needed her.

Closing her eyes, she willed her light magic to cushion her landing as she hit the hard dirt. Luckily, her magic prevented it from hurting, but there was still touches of a lingering ache. She couldn't focus on that though. She stumbled to her feet, running over to the mound. "I'm here Gravion. I'm here."

She began to dig, frantically throwing up mounds of dirt as she tried to uncover where Gravion was. He was calling for her, calling for someone to help him. And no one had heeded his call. He could have been down there for years and no one would be any the wiser.

"Gravion," she whispered, having uncovered a part of a large foot. "What's wrong? Why haven't you been able to free yourself."

'_Weak…'_

Phoenix smiled softly. "I'll lend you some of my magic. Will you be able to rise if I do?"

She didn't want for an answer, only put her hand on a small gemstone on his foot and poured her energy into him, steadily giving him more and more.

"Phoenix!" Luther shouted. "What in Abbadon's name are you doing?!" What was she thinking randomly pouring out power to a statue? If the thing rose, and Luther could see its height, it could kill her and use her power to kill them all, leading Luther and everyone to have to jump in and fight. Phoenix would be dead, Arielle might die, and the kids would be in turmoil because of it.

"I'm going after Arielle," Kuda growled. "That Libra bastard won't take her from us!" He jumped off the stands as well, landing beside a chariot. Although he wanted to ride it, he had no horses and it wouldn't save Arielle if he ran off to steal some (he'd steal the chariot later).

He sprinted after the thing, battle clothes melding onto his body and his tail whipping out, unsheathing itself. The beast was fast, and Arielle was fast herself, but Kuda could easily tell that she was wearing out. He could tell that she was slowing down and that she would either trip (Arielle was a bit *ahem* could be very clumsy sometimes) or Libra would snap at her legs.

"_Thou have trespassed onto my territory!" _The beast roared. _"Speak your intentions now! Or perish!"_

"I didn't mean any harm!" Arielle shouted back, sharply turning when the arena curved. "Please believe me!"

"_Speak your intentions!"_

"I just wanted to paint!" Arielle cried.

Kuda jumped, landing on the things back. Grabbing hold of his very luscious mane (he would never admit it anywhere else), he yanked with all his might, digging his tail into the beast's flank. The thing under him roared, skidding to a halt and bucking wildly to shake him off. "Arielle, run!"

"What have I been doing this whole time?!" She screamed back. However, she sprinted away, running back to the stands.

"How do you feel Gravion?" Phoenix panted. She was magically draining herself, at least, draining her light magic. She didn't want to infuse the thing with dark magic because it would corrupt Gravion and he might rampage and kill everyone.

'_I feel better. But must find her.'_

"Who is she?" Phoenix asked, stopping the energy transfer.

'_I was supposed to protect her. I must find her.'_

"Can you stand?"

'_I can now. Please, step back.'_

Phoenix heeded his words and took many steps back as the hugest figure she had ever seen slowly began rising. It looked like a guardian statue she had seen in books, only much, much bigger. He was covered in moss, though it looked like it was purposely put there. He stood large, proud, and tall, with four arms in a deep brown.

"Gravion?" She asked in a whisper.

"Who the heck is Gravion?" Luther asked, landing beside her. "Phoenix, what did you do?" Usually, Arielle was the one who messed with strange things, but now Phoenix was messing with some random statue thingy! What the heck did he miss?!

"Thank you," Gravion rumbled. "You've helped me to regain my strength so that I may look for Leorone and Lira. I was sent to protect Lira by her father, but I have failed. When we were reborn, Lira was attacked by a dark entity, one who sapped my energy, and buried me under here. Leorone tried to look for me, but he failed and remained here until he could unearth me. And Lira…she was here last, but we do not know where."

"Who's Leorone?" Phoenix asked, putting a hand on one of the gems on his ankle, which was way over her head.

"He is a large white lion who rests here. He had been unable to unearth me while I remained buried," Gravion answered.

"Lion?! Arielle was getting chased by a huge lion just a few minutes ago!" Phoenix looked up as far she could to see Gravion's eyes. "Please, help my friend!"

Gravel rained down from above, giving Phoenix the impression that Gravion nodded. "If you help me find Lira, I will help your friend."

"I promise," Phoenix agreed.

Gravion nodded.

"_Let go! Let go of me you mortal!" Leorone roared. "RELEASE ME!"_

"Aw! Kuda got Kitty's tongue?!" Kuda teased.

"_I will rip you to pieces!"_

A large hand the size of a train car slammed down, shaking the whole arena. Leorone paused in his wild shaking and bucking to stare at the hand. "G-Gravion?" Leorone growled softly. "Is that you? Have you been here the whole time?"

"Yes," Gravion answered, plopping down in front of Leorone, again shaking the earth again. "I have been here the whole time."

"I'm sorry," Leorone bowed his head. "I should have looked harder-"

Gravion shook his head. "Our main concern is finding Lira. We can concern ourselves with what happened later."

"How did you get free?" At this point, Leorone gave a wild shake, knocking Kuda off of him. Kuda have an unlikely and unmanly yelp, hitting the ground hard and knocking his head on the ground.

"I had help from someone," Gravion answered, setting Phoenix down in front of Leorone.

Leorone inspected Phoenix carefully. "Are you friends with my first prey?"

"You mean Arielle? Yes, she's my friend. She only wanted to draw you."

"Draw?" Leorone repeated.

Phoenix nodded. "She's an artist and her next piece was centered on lions. She wanted to get inspiration."

"Her intentions were pure enough," Gravion said. "We should apologize and ask for assistance in finding Lira."

Leorone bowed his head again. "I'm sorry," he snarled softly. "I did not mean to scare her, I just wanted to know her intentions."

Luther grinned. "It was fun seeing her get the shit scared out of her," he admitted.

Phoenix smacked him on the back of the head. "Luther! Arielle is our friend! Instead of coming after me, you should have gone after her and tried to help her like Kuda did."

Luther shrugged. "Well, what's done is done. Arielle is alive, and you almost killed yourself."

"I was trying to help Gravion!" Phoenix protested.

"You didn't have to jump off the stands!"

"How else was I supposed to get down there so fast?!"

"You could have used magic to make wings!"

"Adrenaline plus fear equals no rational thought! I turn into Arielle when that happens!"

"Please don't do that," Luther pleaded. "Do you know what it would be like living with just Arielle and the teens?! Constant trouble, reckless parties, spontaneous trips to nowhere, converting the house to the Bat Cave…further converting the house to the Bat Cave!" Luther hugged Phoenix's legs, dramatically sobbing into them. Phoenix rolled her eyes.

"Get up you idiot," Phoenix mumbled. "You're embarrassing me."

Gravion began to laugh in his own way. "You amuse me. Before, mere human and a deity could not get along. Even Summoners had trouble with those like you. However, I see you are not a mere mortal as assumed. You and your friend have been blessed with Maxwell's blessing, and Cardes's blessing as well. Maxwell trusts few humans. It shows how valuable you are to him if he blessed you and your friend with magic," Gravion rumbled.

Phoenix looked around. "Where is Arielle?

"Here I am," Arielle called softly, peeking over the bottom row of stands. "Is it safe?"

Kuda nodded. "It's safe. Get out here."

Arielle slowly clambered over, flinching when Leorone approached her. However, she was shocked when Leorone bowed. "I am sorry," he said softly. "I meant no harm to you, but there are some with no pure intentions here."

Arielle and Phoenix shot glares to Kuda, who held up his hands. "I _thought _about stealing, but I did not."

Phoenix rolled her eyes and turned back to Gravion. "You were talking about someone called Ra. I mean, I know it's an Egyptian god, but what does that have to do with you?"

Gravion bowed his large head. "Her name is Lira. Leorone and I were supposed to protect her by order of her father. And we…have failed."

Arielle and Phoenix shared a look. "I promised to help you find her, and we will."

She and Arielle sat cross-legged and held hands, channeling their magic together and letting it flow free, looking out for all magical presences in the Eastern hemisphere that could possibly be Lira. "Lira, where are you?" Arielle whispered. "Gravion and Leorone are here with us. Can you find us?"

They sat for three hours in the sun, unmoving and unflinching. Karl took the kids sigh-seeing for a while, while the others kept watch, making sure that nothing disturbed the two. It took all that time for there to be a reply.

"**I hear you," **a voice replied. **"I am transporting myself to your location now."**

A dark energy vortex opened in front of them, quickly darkening the arena before it was light again. A teen stood there. She could have been much older than Vincent or Elijah. She had lilac purple hair and a lighter purple skin. Her eyes were oddly light blue, and seemed to be alive. Her clothes were heavy and dark, so weird in the hot sun, but she was smiling, as if the heat didn't even faze her. "Thank you," she said softly. "For finding my friends. I have been searching all over Rome for them. Except for here, which is unlike me. I am usually very thorough."

"No problem," Phoenix replied, getting up and holding out her name. "I'm Phoenix, and this is my friend Arielle."

"Ah." Lira nodded. "You are the two Maxwell speaks highly of."

Phoenix blushed while Arielle grinned. "Of course Maxie talks highly of us. He loves us! Well…he loves Phoenix more than he does me. Cardes…now that handsome devil loves me more than he loves Phoenix."

Phoenix hit her. "Anyways, what were you doing in Rome?"

"I was looking for Gravion and Leorone. My leads had led me here, but I was looking so many other places that I was forgetting someplace as simple as this." She smiled at Gravion, who patted her head. Arielle was scared that Gravion was going to crush her, but Lira just laughed. Gravion must have only used a twentieth of his true strength. "Anyways, there must some way I can repay you."

Phoenix shook her head. "Arielle just came to tame a lion, I came for the culture."

Leorone lifted his head. "You were going to try and tame me?"

Arielle nodded shakily. "And then paint a picture for my next work. I'm an artist and-"

Leorone shook his head. "It is fine. I am still sorry for what I have done to you. Please, if I can repay you in anyways, let me know."

Kuda grinned. "Well…do you know who owns that chariot-"

"I asked the ones with pure intentions, not the one without a pure heart," Leorone growled.

Kuda grinned still. "Eh. Worth a shot."

Leorone shook his large head.

~Home~

"It's good to be home," Luther murmured, collapsing onto the couch. "We will never again take a 14 hours flight for Arielle to not even tame a lion." He glared at the other woman.

Arielle collapsed onto the floor and groaned. "Shut up!" She waved around a piece of white paper. "I got my sketch of the lion!"

Phoenix looked around worriedly. The kids were basically asleep where they were standing, and the grown-ups were irritated with each other and were about to break into fights in the drowsiness. She clapped her hands. "Alright, all of you, to bed, now."

There were grunts from around the doorway, and Uda collapsed onto the floor like Arielle. Phoenix shook her head. "Eideolous, do you mind taking Elijah and Vincent to their rooms? I know you're as tired as everyone, but-"

Eideolous just held up a hand. "I understand," he said quietly, putting Vincent onto his back and carefully taking Elijah into his arms. Elijah grunted, glaring at him. "Don't carry me like a woman," he growled.

Eideolous just smirked. "You drooled on my shoulder on the way back and you fell asleep during the card ride home and in the airport terminal. You aren't in any position to take yourself back to your room."

Elijah, though he was dozing, flicked him off. "I'm not a woman," he snarled sleepily.

"Every other time, you're always the woman," Eideolous breathed in his ear.

Elijah was thankful no one else heard that, or saw them going up the stairs, else they would have seen him blush.

"You two are so cute," Vincent mumbled. "You guys should kiss."

Phoenix turned, seeing everyone else scattered around the room. "C'mon guys. Get to bed."

Sasha raised her arms. "Carry me," she murmured sleepily.

Phoenix shook her head, picking Sasha up like she did when Sasha was younger. "I'm not making another trip, so once I go upstairs, I'm not coming back down."

Arielle sighed. "I guess that means you won't carry me?"

"I'm already holding Sasha. How the hell am I going to carry you?"

"Let me piggyback?"

"Goodnight Arielle."

"NIIIIIIIIIGHT!"

~The Next Afternoon~

"What the hell happened?! You go to school and promise to stay out of trouble, and you come back and Conner's got a black eye! What happened?!" Phoenix shouted at the kids.

Conner flinched. "W-Will you sign this?" He held out a slip of paper.

"Will you tell me why you have a black eye? Did Jared force you to play football with him again?" Phoenix took the paper and pushed her work to the side, shooting a look to Jared. "I will ground you all unless someone confesses."

The kids all looked at one another.

"It…was…awesome!" Sasha finally cheered, laughing. "You should have seen it! Conner took on _five _guys at once and only got a black eye."

Phoenix rounded on Conner. "Conner?! Why were you fighting? You _never _fight."

Conner didn't answer, just looked at his shoes.

"Just five?" Arielle commented. "I thought we taught you better than that."

Phoenix glared at her, putting her hands on Conner's shoulders. "Conner?"

"…Can you just sign it?"

Phoenix sighed. "Exactly what is it?"

"S-Something for school. You know, something with…honor's society," he lied.

"Conner, you're lying to me. What is this really for and why were you fighting?"

Conner sighed. "Look, it's a note for a meeting with the principal and school because of the fight! These five guys cornered us at lunch and started calling us names, and at first, we ignored them because their always starting trouble, but then they started talking about you and Arielle." There were tears in his eyes. "They said…they called us orphans whose mothers never loved us and dumped us on our fathers. They said that you and Arielle were sluts who keep our fathers around for fuck-buddies who only sleep around and don't do real work. They said the reason you have this mansion and everything you have is by sleeping around, and that's why our fathers are here, because you give them a reason to stay by screwing them. They told us we were never loved and worthless and our mothers wanted abortions but were stuck with us. And I hated what they were saying and…I just attacked. I couldn't let them talk about you and Arielle like that."

"Oh, Conner," Phoenix pulled him into a hug.

"Connie!" Arielle cooed, the two women squeezing him between them. They both placed a kiss on top of his head. "It's so sweet that you would defend us like that," Arielle sniffed.

"But you didn't have to fight five guys by yourself," Phoenix chided.

"T-Technically," Conner mumbled. "It was nine. Eideolous took one, Vincent took one, Robin took one, and Elijah took the last one. The main five, I fought and…well, the principal want to talk to you and dad about that." He chuckled nervously. "But I fought them for you two. Can't have anyone insulting the only mothers I really ever had."

"You're so sweet!" Arielle cooed, ruffling his hair.

"But," Phoenix said, pulling out of the hug. "You're grounded for two weeks for fighting."

Sasha gasped. "D-did you just ground him?"

When Phoenix nodded, Sasha grinned. "YES! FINALLY! GOODY-GOODY CONNER FINALL GOT GROUNDED!"

~Saturday~

"RISE AND SHINE DARLING! IT'S YOUR FAVORITE AUNTIE MAXXIE!" A voice echoed through the young teen's new room.

Secilia groaned, opening her eyes to see the all mighty god of creation, standing in the doorway with his hands on his hips and still wearing his pajamas, his expensive looking lavender _silk _pajamas. His hair still looked oddly fabulous, not at all like it had been ruffled from sleep, and his pajamas barely had any wrinkles in them. Huh. Arielle wasn't lying. Maxwell was fabulous at any time of the day.

"Well get up. I don't have all day," he urged, snapping his fingers and signaling for her to get up as he glided into her room, going over to her window and pulling open her curtains, flooding sunlight into her room.

Secilia sighed, pulling the covers from over her body. She looked around the room that bad now been decorated to her style thanks to Arielle. The ceiling had been painted to look like a galaxy and the walls were white for Secilia to paint on whenever she wanted except for one of the walls, which had a painting of her old house, courtesy of Phoenix forcing Arielle to make that one.

"Everyone is waiting at breakfast to see you. You'd think after a week they would be use to you here already but 'nooooooooooo' you're still a hot topic," he said, winking at her.

"I don't even know wh- you know, it's too early to question things," Secilia said sighing. She should have known better than to question Maxwell, not only because he was a god, but because he was just that kind of person. And Arielle had also told her not to ask too many questions around Maxwell. Sometimes, you just had to roll with it.

"Now you're getting it darling!" Maxwell said, clapping his hand together. "Now: I'll pick you out something cute! Where are your clothes?"

"There all in the wash," Secilia admitted. She really hoped that he wouldn't laugh at her.

"Oh! Of course dear silly me; I'm guessing you didn't ship the rest of them overnight. Was there a problem at the airport with the rest of your clothes?"

"I-I-I don't have any more clothes. All the clothes I own are in the wash," Secilia mumbled, looking at her shoes. She really hoped Maxwell wouldn't judge, or laugh at her for it. She couldn't help it. The fire…she would tremble just thinking about it. But she lost just about everything. She only had a few outfits and she was borrowing a dress from Jessabelle today until her clothes were dry. She was planning on going shopping soon, but didn't have a date set.

Maxwell paused and stared at the girl unblinkingly for a minute and then asked to be excused. He gave her another wink and swept out of the room. As soon as the door was shut, she heard Maxwell scream Phoenix and Arielle's name.

Secilia smiled and rolled her eyes, heading for the shower.

~Phoenix's POV~ (In the kitchen)

"_**Chardonnay Phoenix Alejandra-Ramirez Brown and Sierra Arielle Armani-Laurenti Carter! Get your asses out here now!"**_ I heard screamed through the intercom. I pushed the button on the wall with my elbow, still stirring the batter. It was a common practice for me, and I've done it for years now, even when I was screamed at through the intercom, which happened more than most people would have expected. "I'm making breakfast, Maxwell," I replied, pouring some batter on the skillet. I was the primary mother in the house, I had things to take care of.

"Sending Karl down now!" I heard replied in a panicked tone. What could Maxwell possibly want so early? And what could have been so wrong that he sounded so worried? I swear, if this was because he couldn't find his Louie Vuitton bag again, god of creation or not, I was kicking him in the balls.

I sighed and took off my apron. I gave Karl a high five as he entered the kitchen, and left to see what Maxwell wanted. Before I could get to the stairs, I heard Arielle protesting at Maxwell's order for her to get out of Cardes' room.

"BUT HE'S GONNA CHEAT WHILE I'M GONE! I DON'T TRUST HIM WITH MY 3DS!" I hear over the intercom.

"Honey. Come on. When do I ever cheat?" I heard Cardes say lowly. He sounded so calm strangely enough, while Arielle sounded pissed. They must have been playing Super Smash Bros. (A/N: I actually play more than Abbeh, but she does try…sometimes) again, which would explain everything.

"ALL THE FRICKEN TIME YOU LITTLE-"

I rushed to the nearest intercom and start to scream. "ARIELLE! THE CHILDREN!" I shouted over the speaker. Honestly, can she not watch her mouth? They had a habit of repeating what they heard. It had been like that ever since they were little. Jared was the worst, and I didn't need him adding new words to his already vulgar enough as it is vocabulary.

"SCREW THE CHILDREN! I WILL KICK YOUR ASS CARDES! IF YOU DON'T-"

**"BOTH OF YOU GET UP HERE NOW OR I WILL TAKE YOU AND THIS HOUSE DOWN!" **Maxwell screamed, causing the house to shake. Uh oh. Maxwell must have been absolutely livid. And Arielle and I paid a lot for this house and everything in it.

I started running up the stairs, trying to find Maxwell and as I did, I ran into a half-naked Cardes. "What the- where's Maxwell?"

He pointed at the door to my right and I rushed in. Arielle was on the swing seat panting while Maxwell was in the middle of the room, arms crossed. "S-s-sorry I ran into half naked man here," I panted, pointing at Cardes who was looking at Arielle with annoyance.

"Well if someone didn't take my shirt and started running away…" he grumbled.

"Well Maxwell said-,"

"HELLO!? I'M THE ONE THAT CALLED YOU HERE SO LISTEN UP!" Maxwell screamed, gold eyes glowing angrily.

That made all of us shut up.

Maxwell took a huge sigh. "Okay, since Secilia doesn't have any clothes, I will be taking her shopping ALL day which will give you two time to set up for the party. I'm also taking Vincent with me so she and I can have someone to hold our bags," he finished, smiling at us. Poor Vincent. He always got stuck with the heavy lifting even though he wasn't even the strongest one. Eideolous was, yet Vincent was always stuck with bag duty.

"Thank you Maxwell. If you do that, then I will start with the planning and if the trip doesn't last as long as you expect just take her to dinner or something," I said, grabbing his cheetah clipboard off his desk. This man may have been the most glitter-shitting thing on the planet, but he had fabulous style and some of the best things. Damn his creation powers…

"Very well," Maxwell headed towards the door with a sway in his hips. "Oh and Arielle, smart move keeping your DS on hand, Cardes cheats every time you play the game." He winked and shut the door.

"I KNEW IT! CARDES YOU SLUT!"

~1 Hour Later~ (3rd Person)

"Bye Secilia have a nice time!" Phoenix yelled to the retreating limo.

Once it was out of sight, she quickly walked back into the house and to the surrounding group at the table. Quickly uncapping her pen, she checked something off. "Maxwell getting Secilia out of the house, check," she listed with a smirk. She walked into the living room, where everyone was gathered. "Alright maggots listen up," Arielle began, snatching the clipboard from Phoenix. "Cuz momma's about to teach you what you all are supposed to do. Rayden and Karl are on food, Zegar is on booze, Vargas is in charge of getting music and Elijah, Conner, and Eideolous are doing the heavy lifting with the sound system and DJ Table and everything. Sasha is out with Maxwell and Vincent, who are keeping Secilia busy, and Jessabelle, when Secilia gets in, you rush her up to her room and don't let her see anything, and you and Esther dress her up real pretty and do some quick make-up on her. Jared, go outside and clean the pool. Luther and Uda-"

Phoenix tossed a box at them. "Here. Play with this."

Uda caught it, staring at the box. "The heck is this?"

"Concentration," Phoenix answered. "Real men can concentrate without losing focus."

Luther glared at Uda, snatching the box and running upstairs. Uda growled and followed him.

"Isn't that game for three year olds?" Conner asked when they were gone.

"Well, that," Phoenix admitted. "And two lesser gods who want to prove whose better between the two of them. C'mon, what else could I possibly let them do that wouldn't end with the two of them fighting? At least this way, they might have fun."

~Arielle's POV~ (The Next Morning)

Before I could comprehend what was happening, my body had landed on the floor of a really dirty room. Pain erupted in my head mostly, and I couldn't help but whimper in pain. "Owwww. My face," I groaned into the floor. What happened last night? I remember the party and Luther looking up a law about teenagers being able to drink while under supervision of adults (which Phoenix was getting pissy about) and then downing a few beers. The rest…it was too vague for anything else.

"Well that's what you get for using me as a mattress," a voice replied above me.

"Jesus? Is that you?" Did I die last night from drinking too much? I hoped not. There was so much stuff I needed to do…mainly in my art and pranking Phoenix.

"Close but no."

I looked up to see Uda smirking down at me. I must have been wasted if I ended up on top of Uda. Ew! I slept with Uda?! Oh Maxwell I felt dirty…

I scoffed. "In no way do you resemble Jesus. If anything you're like Satan."

He rolled his eyes. "Please, I'm already god-like."

I chuckled at that and he just glared at me.

"I'm 3 seconds away from kicking your-." He was interrupted by Phoenix screaming my name.

"Gots to go babe," I said, making my way to the door. A thought struck me as a twinge went through my hips that made me turn to him as he picked himself up off the floor. "By the way, we didn't-"

"We didn't," he assured, waving a hand. "As tempting as it was with you half-naked and all, I _do _in fact have morals."

"Morals," I mocked, rolling my eyes. "Instead of putting a shirt on me, you just left me there?"

Uda shrugged. Irritating prick.

As I entered the kitchen, a massive hangover hit me, full blast. I moaned and collapsed onto the floor. It felt as if someone had run me over with a truck. Repeatedly. Damn, I drank way too much.

"So I'm guessing you haven't seen Maxwell yet?" Phoenix said looking down at me while I groaned in pain. Ah, Maxwell was wonderful when it came to hangovers, headaches and migraines, and other things. It was nice being friends to someone like him, simply because he was a doctor, a mechanic, a fashion designer, a contractor, he was basically everything rolled into a fabulously flaming package.

I made a grumbling sound in response before entering fetal position. It hurt so much! Why was Phoenix being so damn loud?!

Phoenix sighed and went over to the intercom. "Maxwell? Could you come down here? Arielle hasn't been treated yet."

"Be down in a mo. Just finishing up with Vargas now."

"Thanks."

"HELLO!" Zegar screamed, entering the room. "GOOD MORNING!"

"Owwwwwwww" I growled, looking up at the idiot. You never yell at someone with a hangover. And damn, Zegar must have been shitfaced.

"Oooooops my baaaaad," Zegar giggled, waving a hand sloppily.

Did you just giggle? More importantly what are you wearing?" I asked. And why was he wearing it was the other question.

Zegar was wearing one of Phoenix's very short pink dresses and thank Maxwell he at least kept his boxers on under it. It did not do him any justice at all. It was way too tight on him, way too short, and it was ruined because he was staggering on his feet and swaying as he tried to stand. I was glad for the boxers because Phoenix was probably the only one who'd be interested in his junk…ew. Just thinking about it made me nauseous.

"Do you like it?" He asked, giving us a twirl (and he almost fell on his ass). "I think it shows off my hips."

Phoenix just shuddered and went back to cooking. _Why _Zegar was in her dress, she didn't know, but pink was definitely not his color. There were just somethings she wished he hadn't seen, though she did want to know exactly how Zegar got into her room. She could have sworn he was on the roof when he finally passed out…

"You know you're going to have to burn that now, yes?" I asked her. She rolled her eyes and mumbled a yes. It was a shame. Phoenix looked fab in that dress; it was upsetting that Zegar ruined it.

"Well, I'm off to piss off Vargas! Bye!" Zegar said before skipping out of the room.

"He such a weird drunk." I said standing back up and sitting on the counter. "He giggles and twirls and likes to cross dress. Why do we let this happen? And more importantly, why haven't we ever stopped him?"

"Meh. It's whatever. And you can't talk about him being drunk," Phoenix scoffed. "Please, all you want to do when your drunk is dance with everyone or challenge people to drink offs."

"Hey! I'm a good time when I'm drunk and you can't talk all you do is twerk on every flat surface available," I pointed out, rolling my eyes at her.

"Touché. Alright, well, breakfast is ready." She said, throwing the last of the Flap Jacks onto a plate. Soon after Phoenix announced that food ready, Maxwell came in and healed me and we all sit down to eat. About halfway through the meal something under me started buzzing while the tone played "Work That Monkey."

"Are you sitting on my tablet?" Phoenix asked, looking up from her breakfast and looking around for it.

"Better question: why is that song your email notification?" Sasha asked. By this time everyone was looking at Phoenix, who was trying to sink into the floor.

Phoenix started blushing. "It's nothing," she mumbled. "I've had that thing since college and I liked that song."

"Well obviously you still like it because you never changed it," Zegar said, smirking at Phoenix. "So, is there any chance you'd work that monkey for me and twerk…again?"

Phoenix's blush became even worse. "Just give it here." She held her hand open and gestured towards me.

"Mmmm nah. I'm still pissed about UNO." I said. I grabbed the tablet and unlocked it to see who was emailing her. Lucky for me she never changed her password, which was ironically her birthday.

"Uh oh," I said, looking at the email of the person who sent the message. It was Eze Richards. I didn't even look at the email; I just deleted it and gave the tablet back to Phoenix.

"Wait, who sent me an email? Did you delete it?" Phoenix asked with a confused look on her face.

"Nobody worth mentioning," I shrugged looking at my nails.

Her ring tone went off again, making the table laugh as she blushed and unlocked her tablet. She read out loud from the new email.

**"Phoenix, just in case Arielle deletes the first email I have also sent another copy attached to this email. I know how she is and hope you will read through and consider my request."**

"That little shit," I grumbled, folding my arms. I should have known he would send another email!

"Hey guys, could you give me and Arielle a second to talk?" Phoenix asked the rest of the room.

As everyone started to leave, Maxwell put a hand on Phoenix's shoulder and asked if everything was okay. Phoenix dismissed him with a bright smile, which reassured Maxwell as he left the room.

"So what's up with the Asshat? What does he want?" I asked as I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat back on the counter.

Phoenix stand up and sat on the counter opposite of me with a worried look on her face as she started to read the email.

**"Dear Chardonnay and Sierra Arielle, tonight is my company ball and I am requesting that you two (plus two) and Secilia come. Since I allowed Secilia to stay with you, I want you to return the favor by inviting you to come to the ball tonight. Her mother will also be there tonight so I expect Arielle to be as respectable as only you can tame her to be. Please dress appropriately; it is a black and white tie event so I expect your dates to be in suits and you three in dresses. It starts at 6:00 P.M. sharp, so please be on time. I will talk to you more at the ball.**

**Sincerely, Eze Richards."**

"What the hell does he mean he "allowed" Secilia to live with us? Maxwell _made _him give us Secilia because he deemed Eze and his wife an unfit pair of parents. He acted as if he had a choice." I snarled, anger coursing through me. And what did he mean by tame me? I was plenty respectable when I wanted to be.

Phoenix sighed. "Still, we have to go..."

"What?! No way in hell. After the last time I saw those two. I almost killed that ratty blonde." I said, scowling at the floor.

_~Flashback~_

"_You don't even deserve Secilia! Neither of you do!" I screamed, pointing at Eze and Emelia, who just looked at me in shock because of my outburst. Well, Eze gave me a shocked look for all of two seconds, then looked at his watch as if he had better things to go._

_We had just come back from the hospital where Secilia now stayed with a broken arm because of a car accident cause by her two parent's fighting. Eze had turned to say something to Emilia (he was screaming at her really) and he didn't watch the road. Emilia smacked him, and Eze's control faltered. Their car swerved into a tree, but there were no injuries that were too serious. At least, in the beginning, it seemed that way. However, the impact hurt Eze and Emilia, but Secilia had taken the worst of it. And thus, she was in the hospital because of it._

"_You two were too busy arguing over who got Secilia that you put her in harm's way! The only reason you still have her is because Maxwell keeps saying it's not time for us to take her!" I yelled, staring down Eze, who was glaring back with equal force._

_"How dare you?!" screamed Emelia, stopping whatever Eze was going to say to me by getting in my face. "How dare YOU of all people call me an unfit parent? I don't even think you know the meaning of parenting! You and your little witch bitch of a sister pretend to have a family by taking in strays when the truth is: you're both alone! I mean, you're not even real sisters for god's sake! Why don't to just quit the charade and give up already?! We all know you're going to fail!"_

_At this point Uda grabbed me and had my hands pinned behind my back. I could still break free though. He wasn't that tough. At least, he wasn't when I was running on pure rage. I was running off of adrenaline and anger and nothing was about to stop me from tearing her to shreds._

_"I ought to throw you across the room by your ratty blonde hair you fucking bitch!" I screamed, trying to break Uda's hold. "I may not have a blood relation to the people in my house and yeah, I may not have a biological kid of my own, but don't think for and second that that means I'm not a parent! How dare I? How dare you! I stood up for you when Eze was gonna take everything from you! I got you the best attorney money and persuasion could buy! The only reason you aren't in some box is because of me and Phoenix, so don't you DARE say we aren't parents because as far as I'm concerned, you're not a mother! ALL THOSE KIDS IN THE HOUSE WERE ADANDONED BY THEIR MOTHERS SO WE TOKE IT UPON OURSELVS TO BE THE MOTHERS THEY NEED, THE MOTHER THAT YOU __**AREN'T **__TO SECILIA!"_

_Before I could comprehend anything else that had been said, my face had been forcefully turned to the side and I was aware of a stinging sensation in my cheek. I touched my cheek instinctively and felt heat from the slap that Emelia had just delivered. I chuckled as I looked at the woman who was now staring me in the eye. She threw the first hit, so I had all the rights to knock the fuck outta her._

_"Now I can say I was provoked," I growled at her._

_She didn't have time to respond because I had pounced on top of her. I grabbed a fist full of her hair to steady her head and I aimed a punch at her eye. I felt her cry out in pain underneath me as my fist connected with her face. I did this several more times before someone tugged me off of her. I looked up in time to see Eze throw me to the ground, knocking the breath out of me. As he started to advance on me, Uda tackled him and began putting him in a headlock. I didn't see any more of them because while I was catching my breath, Emilia had jumped on top of me and started to pull my hair._

_"YOU FIGHT LIKE A GIRL!" I screamed at her, but I was trained by guys and gods so there was no way I would fight like a mere female. Emilia was supposed to be a hero; where was her power? Where was all this skill she supposedly had?_

_Before she could respond, I grabbed the side of her head and pushed it towards the ground. That made her lose her balance and she put a hand on the floor to steady herself. I saw this as an opening and swung my foot around and kick her arm from the floor. She hit the floor with a hard thud. I didn't give her time to react as I climbed on top on her and aim for her throat. Before I can wrap my hand around her scrawny neck a purple smoke appeared out of my palms and started forcing its way down her throat. She started choking and scratching at her throat, but nothing is helping the pain. I sat back and watched as she started to lose the ability to breathe all together. Before I can finish the job, I got tackled to the floor by three security guards. I didn't resist because I know what is going to happen and I have already caused enough damage to be permanent._

_I'm pulled off the ground in hand cuffs and I looked to my right to see Uda in the same situation as me. His lip was bleeding and two guards were putting him in hand cuffs. He gave me a wink before they dragged him away. I looked to my left to see Emilia being pulled from the floor. As she regained her balance the smoke seemed to leave her lungs and disappear._

_"What did you do to me?!" Emelia screamed at me. I smirked at her and started laughing._

_"Let's just say one of my 'strays' is very good with poison," I called, putting the emphasis on strays._

_"What was in that-"_

_Before she could respond she started choking again and fell back to the floor._

_The guards holding her called over the nurses and a stretcher. As she was taken to the emergency room, I was put in the back of a cop car with Uda. The car ride was silent, with Uda humming joyfully. Because we knew that once she found out, Phoenix would lecture us, gut get us out of here._

_"Is she gonna die?" Uda asked out of curiosity._

_"Nah. She still from the Gaia so she can't be killed by a simple poison. But she can be harmed by that and trust me she will be in pain for a LONG time." I said smirking as I explained the effects of the poison._

_Uda chuckled at my response." Remind me not to get on your bad side."_

_~2 Hours Later~_

_"YOU DID WHAT!?" Phoenix screamed, looking down at the red and black haired woman, who was rolling her eyes._

_"Nobody would have missed that whore," I mumbled, staring at the ceiling._

_"This is serious Sierra Arielle! You could have killed her! Maxwell didn't give us these powers to take advantage of! I mean, what would have happened if Uda wasn't there? Eze would have killed you! You know how he is when it comes to people and messing with his affairs Arielle. They may argue, but Emilia is still important to Eze!" Phoenix scolded me._

_"Well Uda __**was **__there so I'll guess we'll never know," I grumbled, rubbing my sore cheek._

_"That's not the point." She said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "The point is that you could have killed her and gone to jail!"_

_"Look, if you were there you would have attacked her too! She called you a bitch and-" Uda started, trying to defend me._

_"She said what?" Zegar growled, interrupting Uda._

_"AND he said you and Arielle were bad parents. Of course Arielle attacked her; I would have too if I wasn't dealing with Eze." Uda finished._

_Phoenix looked at Uda and then back at me, then sighed. "Look, all that matters is that you two are okay. I sent Maxwell to heal Secilia's arm so when he comes back, he'll fix your lip Uda."_

_"Ehhh, I kinda like it," he said, touching where his lip had split._

_Phoenix rolled her eyes "Let's just keep the almost homicide to a minimum okay?"_

_~Flashback End~_

"She was in the hospital for a month and even after that, she couldn't drink anything unless it was blended first." Phoenix stated, giving me a pointed look.

I raised my hands in defense. "Hey, she hit me first. I was just defending myself."

"Oh please, you cheated. You used your powers." Phoenix scoffed.

"Oh please, we all know that Arielle could take that fake blonde, even without the powers." Karl replied, entering the room.

Arielle gave him smirk "Thank you Karls."

"Mm-hmm. And don't call me that," he grumbled taking a seat next to me.

"Don't tell me what to do," I said, crossing my arms and sticking out my tongue.

"You're such a child," Karl muttered under his breath.

"You're such a child," I mocked back.

"ANYWAY, Arielle we have to go, not only is it for Eze but for Secilia too. She hasn't seen her mom in a long time. Now is her chance to talk to the two at the same time." Phoenix explained.

"But I don't wannaaaaa" I whined.

"Please Arielle? I'll make you my famous tacos that I only do like, once a year." Phoenix begged.

At this even Zegar's head shot up.

"You mean the famous Phoenix tacos that have a special secret recipe that only you know?" I asked, now staring at her. "The ones you only make on Cinco de Mayo?"

"Yep," Phoenix said, popping the 'p'. She had the largest grin on her face, as if she knew she had won this battle already. And she did. Damn her and her special cooking abilities!

I made a weird sort of screeching noise and started running up the stairs.

"Whaa- where are you going?!" Phoenix yelled to my retreating back.

"TO FIND A DRESS!" I screamed over the intercom as a response.

20 minutes later, I was in my walk-in closet trying to find something to wear. I was deciding between two dresses when there was a knock on my door.

"Enter if you dare!" I yelled to whoever was at the door.

"Hey Arielle - Oh gods!" This was all I heard before a loud crash and the sound of somebody hitting the marble floor.

I rushed out of the closet to see Kuda rubbing his head and looking at the trap I put for some unlucky soul who entered my room next. It was a bucket full of water that I had balanced on top of the door.

I started laughing at the sight of Kuda who was now looking up at me with a look of revenge.

"Oh no." I ran into my bathroom which was shared with Uda's room and I escaped through his door. As soon as I stepped into the hallway I saw my door fling open.

"Sierra Arielle Armani-Laurenti Carter! Get back here!" He screamed as he started rushing towards me.

"OH GOD, HELP ME!" I screamed, running to the stairs. Seeing as Kuda was a trained assassin, he had to run a lot so the only thing that was working in my favor was the lift that had just brought Secilia up, who exited as I dove inside.

"Hey Arielle what are you-"

"Can't talk. Gotta run." I interrupted her as I entered the elevator, slamming my hand on the close button.

Right when I thought I was in the clear, a hand appeared between the two closing doors.

"Oh god this is it. PHOENIX YOU CAN HAVE MY LAPTOP AND PAINTINGS!" I shouted as Kuda pried the doors open.

As the doors opened Kuda went to grab for me but I slid in between his legs. Unfortunately my shirt got caught on his hand as he made a grab for me so I slipped straight out of it. This didn't seem to stop Kuda because he threw the shirt aside and smirked down at me.

"Uh oh."

I jumped up and started for the stairs.

"I don't even have a shirt on Kuda!" I screamed back at him. I was almost naked! That wasn't fair!

"If I see something I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it," he breathed, really close to my ear. This made me pick up the pace at I ran down the stairs. Damn, but Kuda was too close for comfort.

Before I could get to the front door, arms wrapped around my waist stand I was thrown over Kuda's shoulders.

"Let me goooo!" I whined as he started walking the opposite direction of the front door.

"Not gonna happen Arielle," he said with an obvious smirk.

"But Kudaaaaaaaaa" I whined.

"It's payback time," he said, opening the back door.

I had put two and two together and realized that we were headed for the pool.

"No Kuda! You know I hate getting wet!" I yelled as I tried to wiggle from his grasp.

He just chuckled at my failed attempt to escape. "Maybe you shouldn't put a bucket of water over your door next time."

Before I could say a comeback, I was tossed into the pool which still had flowers in it from the party last night.

As I surfaced the water, Kuda was smirking down at me with his arms crossed.

"Satisfied?" I asked, now soaking wet.

"Totally," he said, giving me a brilliant smile.

"At least help me out," I said, I holding out my hand.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed for my outstretched hand. At this point an evil glint grew in my eyes and I used magic to pulled him in. The look on his face said he wasn't expecting this as he hit the water. I couldn't control my laughter as the purple haired man resurfaced, coughing up water. This time a smirk appeared on his face. This made the smile on mine leave.

'_Oh shit,_' I thought.

Before I could move to escape his arms had trapped me to the side of the pool. I looked up into his yellow eyes as he stared down into mine. This gaze held for what seemed like forever since neither of us wanted to interrupt it. Slowly Kuda started to lean in towards me and before I could register what was going on his lips were on mine.

At first the kiss was sweet and gentle but as time went on, the kiss became more aggressive. I didn't even know what I had been expecting from him, but I liked it. Kuda's tongue fought for entrance into my mouth. As I granted him access, his tongue explored every inch of my mouth. Kuda snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me up against his body, deepening the kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and started playing with his hair. A moan escaped my lips as his hand trailed up my back. He broke off the kiss and looked into my eyes. Lust was shown throughout his face and before I could regain my breath, my lips were captured again. I pulled at his hair and wrapped my legs around his waist. This made him let out a groan that vibrated throughout his chest and traveled to mine. As he went to push me up against the pool side, a presence made them known.

"So, what are you kids doing eh?" A voice asked in a mocking tone, hiding a laugh.

I looked up to see Uda smirking down at us. I hid my face in Kuda's chest, hoping that this did not just happen. I was positive that Uda was now laughing as was Kuda.

"I believe you have a dance to get to Miss Arielle," Uda said, smirking down at me.

"And a shirt to find," Kuda added.

~Phoenix POV~

I picked up the dress I had laid out moments before and started to head for the bathroom to change. I really didn't want to go either, but this was for Secilia, and we owed her that much. Before I could reach the door, a knock and a voice came from my bedroom door.

"Hey Phoenix, can I come in?" Vargas asked from the hallway.

"Sure," I said as I put the dress on a hook in the bathroom. I left the bathroom to find Vargas sitting on my bed, waiting for me.

"Hey Vargas, what's up?" I asked, taking a seat beside him.

"I was wondering if you wanted to..." his voice trailed off and I didn't hear what he said.

"Can you repeat that?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. What was with him lately? Something was weird with him, and I hoped it wasn't with the kiss from earlier in the month. I was awkward about it too, but that was because I didn't have my feelings sorted out, so of course it was weird. But what was it now?

"I just thought that because you didn't have a date tonight that we could I don't know…maybe go together?" he asked. He was blushing and looking at the floor as he scratched the back of his head.

I was silent for a second before breaking out into a grin.

"Of course we can," I agreed, looking at the red head.

His head shot up as he looked me in the eyes to see if this was a joke. "Really?" He asked, dumbfounded.

I laughed asked his response. He sounded like a kid who had been given a toy train from a sibling and told he could have it. "Of course. I'd love to go with you as my date; it would make my night better."

This made Vargas's blush grow deeper.

"O-Okay then I'll go get ready." He said as he stood up.

"Right. Be ready by 6:30," I reminded, giving him a small smile.

"6:30. Got it."

The door shut with as click and is at returned to the bathroom. I looked into the mirror and started smiling like an idiot. I walked over to the intercom and called Arielle's room only.

"I need your help with getting ready Arielle. Vargas is my date tonight." I said into the machine.

"OH MY GOSH MAMA'S GOT A HOT DATE! I'LL BE THERE IN TWO SECS!" Arielle screamed back into the intercom as a response.

I rolled my eyes and then called Secilia's room and told her what was going on tonight and to come to my room to get ready. I was nervous, excited, and angry all in one, but I knew I needed to look perfect tonight.

~3 HOURS LATER~

(3rd Person POV)

Vincent checked his watch for a third time to see that it 6:45. He sighed and looked at Vargas and Karl who were also dressed up for the event.

"Where are they?" Vincent grumbled, letting his arm fall to his side.

Karl and Vargas chuckled, knowing that Phoenix and Arielle (Phoenix was actually very punctual by herself, but when it came to dealing with Arielle or the kids and having to get them ready along with her, she tended to be a bit late with things) were always late for social gatherings.

"Be patient, you know how girls are," Karl said, putting a hand on Vincent's shoulder.

"Hey! We're not your average girls," a voice yelled from the top of the stairs.

The boys looked up to see Phoenix, Arielle and Secilia descending down the stairs.

As Phoenix step onto the marble floor, Vargas couldn't stop himself from starring at the beautiful woman in front of him. She was wearing a red strapless dress that had a short trail in the back. The dress almost touched the floor in the front and you could see the front of her black pumps. Her hair was in curls around her shoulders with red streaks. She had smoky eye shadow and bright red lipstick on.

Phoenix noticed him starring and started to blush furiously.

"W-what? Oh god, is it too much? I told Arielle that the eye shadow was too much! Ohhhh, I'll just go take it off." She panicked, looking at the floor. "This is why I rarely wear makeup! I look weird and-"

The rambling brunette made a move to leave but Vargas made a grab for her arm. This spun her around to make her face him, looking him straight in the eyes.

"You look amazing and I am so lucky to be called your date tonight," he said sincerely, not breaking the stare. At this point Phoenix's face was a blazed with scarlet that looked exactly like her streaks in her hair. As she linked arms with Vargas, Arielle passed by her and winked at her, making Phoenix's blush deepen.

As Arielle strutted her way to Karl, Karl looked up to see her smirking figure heading his way. She was wearing a dark wine colored dress that was strapless. It barely touched the floor as she glided across it, her same wine colored shoes clicking on the marble. Her eye makeup was the same as Phoenix but she had the same color lipstick as her dress instead. She had her hair in waves cascading down her back and for one night only her red streaks were gone. Arielle wasn't subtle when admiring Karl. When she reached him she looked him up and down as she put one hand on her hip and started smirking.

"You clean up good, tiger." She purred, sending him a seductive wink.

"I-I-I...you l-look...I mean... uhh... wow,", he stuttered, blush heating his face.

Arielle laughed, throwing her arm around his shoulders. "Couldn't said it better myself."

As her and Karl conversed, Secilia made her way to a Vincent who was now as red as his hair.

"I am so lucky to be your date tonight," he mumbled, trying to regain his composure.

'_Like father, like son,'_ she chuckled internally.

Secilia had put on one of her new dresses from Maxwell. It was blue and hugged her curves quite nicely, stopping at her knees. From the top of the right shoulder to the end of the dress and gold design was stitched into the dress, making it look as if golden vines were making their way up her body. Her hair was pulled to one side and was lying over her shoulder in waves. Her shoes matched her dress and her makeup was simply eyeliner and mascara.

"Oh, I wasn't sure you counted this as a date..." Secilia whispered, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

The look on Vincent's face dropped. "Oh. I thought since you asked me it was asked date..."

A confused look crossed the blonde's face. "I thought if I told you this was a date you wouldn't want to come with me..."

After a moment of thinking, Vincent's signature smirk appeared as he grabbed Secilia's hand.

"Secilia Richards, would you do me the honor of letting me escort you to the annual Richards' Company ball?" He asked, wearing his smirk the whole time.

This made Secilia blush but her answer was just as great.

"My my Vincent; your vocabulary has seemed to increase. I would be delighted to take you as my plus one," she teased.

Little did the two teens know that the other two couples had watch the whole scene unfold in front of them

"AWWWWW!" Arielle and Phoenix gushed, making the two teens faces bright red.

As the group left the house Arielle had an idea.

"HEY! LAST COUPLE TO THE BALL HAVE TO TAKE A DARE ON BY THE FIRST TO ARRIVE!" she screamed.

"YOU'RE ON!" Phoenix screamed back, grinning.

Arielle ran to her Impala as Phoenix raced over to Vargas's dark blue 2007 Porsche Carrera GT.

"Hey, that's not fair! My car is still in the shop!" Vincent yelled, pausing in the driveway.

"JUST BORROW ONE FROM THE GARAGE!" Arielle yelled, digging around for her keys.

A slight smirk made it way on Vincent's face.

"Come on," he said while grabbing Secilia's hand and pulling her towards the garage. "We're going to win this."

~ 20 minutes later ~

(Arielle'S POV)

As we entered the front gate of some fancy mansion I realized that Karl and I were the first to arrive.

"Yes," I fist pumped the air. "We got here first."

Karl just rolled his eyes at my immaturity. But I didn't care. I was the winner! All those sluts had to do what I wanted!

As he parked the car I saw Phoenix and Vargas pull in and park beside us.

"At least we're not last," Vargas stated, while getting out of the passenger's side.

"Speaking of losers, where are they?" Karl asked.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." I said looking at the front entrance. As the others followed my gaze, the black Batmobile that I bought for my 21st birthday was making itself known.

As the car drove by, Vincent rolled down the window and smirked at Arielle. "You said anything in the garage, but you didn't say which garage," he shrugged, tilting his sunglasses down. Secilia rolled her eyes, but she was smiling as she did.

"One scratch, and I'll rip you limb from limb," I growled, giving him a menacing glare.

At that, he rolled up the window and sped off to find a parking spot.

"So," I started, looking at Karl. "We won. What's the dare?" I asked.

Karl started to scratch the back of his head. "Actually I think we should give this to Phoenix. You're good with the pranks, but she's good with the dares."

I contemplated this for a second. "Hmmmmmmmm. Okay."

"That was easy," he said, surprise written all over his face.

I shrugged. "Yeah, well it's the truth." I looked over to Phoenix. "Make it a good one eh?"

She gave me a look that suggested that I'd only seen at one other time. When she wrote cliffhangers.

"Where have you been!" screamed a voice from behind me." I specifically asked you to be here at six!"

I whipped around to see a very angry Eze marching his way over to us.

"Sorry pops, Phoenix isn't good with directions and I'm not good with demands from a pompous jerk." I said, giving him a dazzling fake smile.

"Well, I mean she's not wrong," Phoenix shrugged. And she looked down at her diamond wristwatch. "Besides, we're only about an hour late."

Eze rolled his eyes at the comment and looked around." And where is she?"

"She is right behind you," I heard Secilia say from behind Eze. "Hello father."

Eze turned around and cleared his throat." Hello Secilia."

I groaned at the awkward silence that followed their meeting and grabbed Karl's hand. "Come on people we're going to be late! Besides I heard there was a fancy ball going on around here somewhere." I gestured to the large mansion and turned to see the two other couples laugh and link arms. Eze just looked annoyed and followed us at the back. Probably making sure none of us bolted at the last second. As a joke, Vincent let go of Secilia's van and shouted: "Quick! To the Batmobile!" and ran all the way back to the car before Eze could react, but we burst into laughter as he jogged back, shrugging off Eze's glare.

As we approached the building Karl snaked his arm around my waist and lead me to the double door entrance. A butler waited at the door to open it.

He gave us a bow and in an Australian accent said, "Welcome to the annual Richards company ball."

My eye widened as I looked over at Phoenix.

"No," she stated firmly, giving me the look.

"Pleeeeeaseee," I begged.

She shook her head, crossing her arms. "You can't just steal a person because they have a nice accent."

"You never let me have any fun!" I pouted. No one had an Australian accent, and this guy was perfect! Not too old, not too young, and looked like he could take a joke.

While we we're arguing, the butler had started to blush while Vargas and Karl laughed at our nonsense. Eze got all pissy and brushed past, muttering about how he needed a drink for dealing with us.

As we entered the building, the first thing I noticed was the decor. The room was a pearl color with golden curtains pulled up so people could see outside. To the right of me was a table that looked hella fancy with snacks on it. To the left was a table that had a ton of champagne glasses balancing on top of each other to form a pyramid.

"I wonder how long that game on Jenga is going to last," I whispered to Karl who looked at the pyramid and smiled.

As he was about to say something, Phoenix squeezed my arm and whispered. "Be brave."

"What foorrroh my god," I said as I saw the blonde bimbo coming in my direction.

"Oh my gods! Phoenix!" She gushed loudly as she gave my best friend a bone crushing hug. "How have you been? Oh, it has been to long! Time really does fly!" She gave small laugh, tucking some hair behind her ear and giving a her a smile.

"Yeah it does. Especially when someone else is raising your kid," I commented dryly, giving her a dirty look.

She returned it with a look of her own. "Ah yes, Arielle. I see you're still a smartass like always," she said, giving me a smirk. Ooh, scathing.

"Why yes Emilia, and I see you are still as bitchy as ever. Had any good smoothies lately? I heard that's all you could drink after I was done with you," I shot back, giving her an even wider smirk.

"Why you little-"

"Okay! That enough," Phoenix intervened, stepping between the two of us. "Tonight is not about us; it is about Secilia and you looking like a family and how can you do that if you are here fighting? Hmm?" she asked. Oh, but I was the smartass. Phoenix was polite, but damn it, her politeness was a cover for that smartass mouth of hers.

The blonde closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "Of course. As always Phoenix, you're right. It is not my fault that everyone can't be as classy as us. Now where is my sweet darling Secilia?" she asked, walking towards the pyramid of champagne, AKA Giant Jenga.

"I'm going to kill her; I am going to wring her skinny little neck with her ratty blonde hair." I hissed in anger, plotting the event.

"The best way to get her at her own game? Take the attention off her at her own party," Vargas said. He grabbed Phoenix's hand and gave her a smirk. "Can I have this dance?" he asked.

She blushed and muttered a yes, barley heard by Vargas, and the two were swept away to the dance floor by the other couples.

Suddenly Karl was close my ear as he tried to be discreet about talking to me. "There are two guys right behind you that have been staring at you ever since you walked in."

I casually looked over my shoulder to see the last two people I thought I'd ever see.

"Where's Phoenix?"

~On the Dance Floor (Phoenix POV) ~

As Vargas spun me around for the third time during our time on the dance floor, the song Stay with Me by Sam Smith began to play.

Everyone paused and found partners as Vargas held out his hand to me, waiting for me to grab it.

I smiled while I grabbed his hand, putting my other one on his shoulder.

As we began to slow dance, Vargas began to make small talk.

"You seem stressed again," he said into my ear.

"Yeah well, you try dealing with Arielle and her procrastination, while also dealing ten kids who are going through finals syndrome," I replied.

"Finals syndrome?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. Grand Gaia. You probably didn't have to take tests that much. Basically, for us, it's when you have to take all the final tests in your classes in one week that are worth 20% of your grade and you start freaking out," I explained. "Especially if you didn't study or do any preparation."

"Ahh," he said, understanding. Well, maybe. There were still some things he didn't understand even though he's been here for so long.

Before I could respond, I heard Arielle scream my name. I groaned internally as I looked up to see her on the second floor.

"What?!" I yelled at her. Eh, who cared for manners? Eze was a horrendous cunt anyways.

She didn't respond to me, she only continued to point at something behind me. I sighed as I turned around and looked up to see two people I haven't seen since college.

"The Valentine twins!" I yelled, happily.

"The who?" Vargas asked.

~Arielle's POV~

"Me and Phoenix's ex-boyfriends," I explained, already dragging Karl over to them.

"He's your what?!" Karl exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes as Karl caught up to my speed. "You do realize that Phoenix and I had a life before you people, yes?"

"But you dated brothers?" he asked.

"Yep," I said, popping the 'p'.

"But how did you-"

"Just come on, we're getting close," I interrupted.

As we zoned in on the twins, I saw Phoenix dragging Vargas up the stairs to them. We reached the twins at the same time.

"Hello girls," they said at the same time.

"Yeah, that still creeps me out," Phoenix said, gesturing at the twins. "That sync talk was always weird."

"I always liked it," I said, smirking at the two.

They both looked at me at the same time. "We know."

At this time, Vargas cleared his throat as a way to get everyone's attention.

Phoenix rolled her eyes. "By the way, this is my date, Vargas, and Vargas, this is...-"

"The one closest to you is Justin and the one next to me is Niklaus and this," I gestured to Karl, "is my baby daddy, Karl."

"Arielle," Karl warned, blushing.

I sighed. "Fine, he's my date for tonight seeing as I was forced here tonight."

Nicklaus chuckled. "Figures. I don't remember you being a social type, seeing as we never left the bedroom." He said, smirking at me.

"That," I said, pointing at him, "was not because I was anti-social."

"Okay, as much as I love talking about Arielle's love life, I'm gonna go get me and Phoenix a drink," Vargas told us. He sounded a bit angry to me, but then again, the music was pretty loud.

"Yeah, I think I'll join you," Karl said, standing as well.

As they both walked off, we found a table to sit at.

"So catch us up on all we missed," Justin said, while holding his head up by his hands.

"You two first," I said, sitting back while crossing my arms and legs.

"Okay, fine," Niklaus smirked. "Where do we start?" he asked.

"Let's start with why are you both back?" Phoenix asked instead.

"Well, you both know that we were a part of Eze's company in Italy, yes?" Justin asked.

"'Were'?" Phoenix asked.

Niklaus looked at Justin before looking back at Phoenix and I before saying, "Società di Eze si è schiantato Durante un cliente alto e ricco è stato arrestato per frode bancaria."

"Okay, English for the Hispanic girl please...or Spanish," Phoenix said looking at me for an explanation.

I laughed lightly. "Eze's company crashed when a high and rich client was arrested for bank fraud," I explained.

A look of understanding crossed Phoenix's face as she nodded.

"Wait, so it was so bad over there that you lose one good client and the whole operation tanks?" I asked, looking at the twins.

Justin shrugged. "Some new company bribed all of our loyal customer with a deal that even I couldn't refuse," he said.

"Well, they couldn't have been that loyal if they could be bribed that easily," I replied in an obvious tone.

"What was the name of the company?" Phoenix asked, ignoring my comment.

"La Famiglia Adams Corporation," They said at the same time.

"The Adams Family Corporation," Phoenix and I said simultaneously.

Niklaus raised an eyebrow. "You know it?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, you could say we know the owner very well," I explained, looking at Phoenix with the same look she was showing me and that look just screamed 'Maxwell'.

"So what about after that?" Phoenix asked. "What did you do for work?"

"Well, it was a good thing we put 78 stocks of Eze's rival companies in The Adams Family Company a month before," the two said in unison, smirking at us.

"And for people who don't speak business a stock is a...?" I asked.

"A stock is type of security that signifies ownership in a corporation and represents a claim on part of the corporation's assets and earnings. Basically our boys here own a portion of ownership in a corporation." Phoenix replied, answering my question.

The boys leaned in, as did we, so nobody in the Eze's company could hear us.

"Seeing as we were basically the brains of the business in Italy, we were the first to notice that the company was crashing, so we warned the people who deserved to know-"

"As in the ones that worked with us that had families or were living on paycheck to paycheck." Justin interrupted. "Instead of the pompous assholes who wanted expensive things and lived the high life."

"In the end we took all of the stocks from rival companies,-"

"-That me and Niklaus had reserved and put in a different stock market company,-"

"- and moved them to the Adams Family company and,-"

"Waited for the fireworks," I said, while sitting back. I smiled, probably from ear to ear. "Wow, our boys have really grown from the sad little boys that who couldn't even write a paper in college."

"Yeah, I remember when Justin tried to turn in a paper that had the Wikipedia URL at the end," Phoenix laughed.

"Ouch now, let's not bring up the past, eh? Miss danced on table tops four nights in a row." Niklaus said, raising an eyebrow at Phoenix.

"Okay, okay touché," Phoenix said, putting her hands in the air as an act of innocence. Pfft. That girl could drink, and she was a party animal when she did.

I laughed as Phoenix lowered her hands. "Remind me why we stopped dating them again?"

"Sorry," a loud voice said behind me. "The drink line was ridiculous."

I turned around to see Karl and Vargas with a weird looks on their faces and two glasses in their hands.

"Oh, that's fine." I said, slowly.

"Pull up a seat," Phoenix said, gesturing to the empty gap between me and Phoenix.

"Well, they can sit but we would love to dance with you two," the boys said at the same time, Justin holding his hand to Phoenix and Niklaus holding his hand out to mine.

"Oh please," I scoffed at them. "The last time we danced, Phoenix fell off the bar's counter and Justin tried to save her but went down with her."

Niklaus scoffed. "You're the one who talked me into dog pile on top of them with you."

"But you were talked into it and agreed too easily, so wasn't totally _all _me," I said, defending myself.

Phoenix scoffed. "Yeah, and I had a bruise on my thigh for two weeks after that."

"Again with the past." Niklaus groaned, rolling his eyes. "Just come dance with me."

I looked at him and sighed and then looked to Phoenix. "One dance?" I knew she would agree since she loved dancing anyways.

She smiled at me. "One dance," she agreed.

I smiled back and stood up and looked at Karl. "Come with us?" I asked.

"No, you two go I'll wait here," he replied in a monotone voice that sounded kind of weird, but I brushed it off.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah it's fine." Karl said curtly.

I looked over to see that Vargas had refused the offer too.

"Then let's go!" the twins said at the same time while Niklaus grabbed my arm and Justin grabbed Phoenix's arm.

As I was pulled to the dance floor, I saw Vargas lean into Karl and say something. Karl responded, before staring at us and the twins. I noticed the two acting weird but before I could act on it, Phoenix and I heard a song that we hadn't heard in years.

"Oh my god," I said.

"No," Phoenix said, slowly.

The twins looked at us "Oh yes."

I looked at Phoenix and smiled the song was Born this Way by Lady Gaga started to play as I looked to Phoenix and she nodded.

At the same time, Phoenix and I extended our hands to the twins. "You two look too dressed up to sit at that bar and not dance with us."

The twins looked at each other and then grabbed our hands. "And you to look too beautiful not to dance with us."

I gave the boys a doubtful look and scoffed. "That is not what you said and you know it."

"I think it was along the lines of 'No we couldn't' at the same time and Arielle getting excited about how cute you to were and you two blushing," Phoenix said, while Justin pulled her towards him.

"Well that is what we are saying now, so shut up and dance." They said, at the same time.

I rolled my eyes and as Niklaus pulled me closer. As me and Phoenix looked at each other she winked, giving me a signal that she wanted to do the dance routine.

I looked at the twins and asked "Remember this?"

The boys looked confused until we started to dance, understanding what we were doing.

"If you mean the 'get everyone's attention' dance then yes I do," Niklaus grinned as he started to pull me into the dance.

As the dance went on, a group of people started to crowd around us, cheering us on. All of Phoenix and I's dance moves were the same until the ending move. Phoenix was lifted into the air by the waist and sat on Justin's left shoulder as they slowly spun, while I dipped low and pulled back up, then wrapped my legs around his waist and held onto one of his arms with my right and threw out my left hand for the finishing move. People cheered as me and Phoenix dropped down from the two.

I started to take a bow when my arm was pulled by someone in the crowd. I looked to see that it was Karl who was walking me towards the exit.

"Karl, what the hell?" I yelled at him.

He didn't respond as he kept pulling me towards the exit. As we exited the building, he let go of my arm and crossed his own.

"So is there a reason you tried to dislocate my arm or were you just bored and decided to be passive aggressive?" I asked in a sarcastic tone.

"What the hell was that?" he spat, pure anger shown on his face.

I looked at him as if he was stupid. "It's called dancing. You know when you put one foot in front of the other and then you spin and gyrate and twist and turn...well, you get the picture."

Karl did a half scoff and half laugh at me and crossed his arms. "That was way more than dancing; you were all over him."

"What are you- wait," I paused, letting the pieces fall into place. "Are you jealous?"

"No," he growled out. "I'm annoyed that you would invite me to some stupid party I didn't even want to come to and then ditch me on the side lines for a different man."

I scoffed. What the hell was his problem?! Didn't want to come to?! Didn't he ask me to go?! And he didn't even want to dance! "Ditched you? I asked you to dance and you said no, so how exactly is it my fault that you made yourself feel this way?"

Before he could say anything else Phoenix came storming out of the building with Vargas hot on her trail. "Damn it Phoenix, come back!" Vargas was yelling as she stormed to the railing.

"Fuck off!" She shouted back, glaring over her shoulder at him. She spared a glance to me and Karl. "Is he questioning you too?" she asked me.

"Yeah, he accused me of feeling up Nik, right on the dance floor," I said crossing my arms

"That's not what I said!" Karl yelled, eyes flaring with rage.

"Oh, it was close enough!" I yelled back.

"Well it's not like he was lying; Phoenix was doing it too!" Vargas butted in.

"Oh, not you too," I groaned, looking at Vargas.

"Well it's true! Ever heard of sexing on the dance floor?" He asked.

"That- that's not how you say it," I pointed out.

"That's not the point!" Karl exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"You're right, next time I feel like dancing I'll make sure it's okay with you, mom" I said in a sarcastic tone.

He rolled his eyes. "Cut the crap Arielle-"

"No Karl, you cut the crap! If I didn't want to come with you, I wouldn't have. The only reason I danced with those two is because I haven't seen them in years and they are old friends of ours."

"Oh come on, do you really expect us to believe that?" Vargas piped up again.

"Siete entrambi idioti! Non posso credere che non si riesce a vedere ciò che è ovvio!" I exclaimed in Italian.

"What?" Vargas asked, annoyed.

"She said she can't believe that you idiots don't know what's right in front of you." Karl replied, with an annoyed look. Oh yeah. He knew Spanish.

"Close enough," I grumbled.

"What do you mean right in front of us?" Vargas said now confused.

"You're jealous because you think we like the boys? Or is it because you think the boys like us?" Phoenix questioned.

They didn't respond.

"Well guess again," she said as she pointed behind the two.

Karl and Vargas turned around to see Justin standing really close to a guy with his hands in the guy's back pockets and Niklaus with his tongue down some other guy's throat.

"The boys may be bisexual, but they are mostly into boys," I said, crossing my arms.

"Oh," Vargas said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. I guess it finally dawned on them.

I looked at Phoenix and then back to them.

"Oh?" Phoenix repeated, anger slowly growing. "All you have to say is 'oh'?"

"Oh god, Arielle I'm so sorry-" Karl began, reaching a hand out to him.

"Save the bullshit for someone else. I am gonna go get a well-deserved drink and hopefully if I return, you will have more faith in me instead of thinking I'm like the last girl who would fuck everyone." I said as I started to walk away. "Come on Phoenix."

Before we could walk back into the building, I heard a giant crash that came from inside.

"Oh what now?!" I yelled, throwing my hands up in defeat.

As I entered the building with Phoenix I felt a splash as my shoe became covered in liquid.

"Oh, gross," I said while lifting up my dress so it wasn't ruined.

"What the hell?" Phoenix asked, while doing the same thing.

We looked over to see that the pyramid of drinks had been spilled onto the dance floor with broken glass everywhere. I heard a gasp come from behind me. I looked to see that Karl and Vargas had caught up to us.

"What did I say? Jenga," I said with no emotion. Before he could respond I started to walk towards the stairs where Emilia was directing everyone to the backup ball room.

~Phoenix's POV~

"Do you really have that little faith in me?" I asked Vargas after Karl went chasing after Arielle.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm so sorry Phoenix. I just got so jealous when I saw you with that guy and all I could think about was getting you away from him."

"It still doesn't give you the right to question my judgement or what I do," I said crossing my arms. "I'm not a child. And I had a life before you. If I'm with someone, don't immediately assume I want to fuck them, because I'm not that type of girl."

"I know and I'm sorry." He sighed." I'll just get a ride home from Karl."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

A confused look crossed his face. "Don't you want me to leave you alone?"

I hit his shoulder lightly. " Of course not you idiot. You said you were sorry and wouldn't do it again so I believe you. Plus, who would I talk to all night? You know Arielle will keep a grudge against Karl for a week or two and I don't feel like listening to her ranting tonight."

The look of shock left his face and was replaced with a bright smile. He pulled me into a hug while picking me up and spinning me. I laughed at this until he set me down again. Our moment was short lived when we heard another crash coming from a room by the now broken pyramid. I looked at Vargas and he gave me nod that said let's go investigate.

As I made my way over to the room I heard screaming coming from the room and another crash. This made me and Vargas pick up the pace towards the door that was cracked open.

"How the hell can you be such a screw up!?" A familiar voice was screaming. "No wonder your mother didn't want you!"

As I opened the door I saw a vase being chucked across the room by an angry Eze and Secilia cowering in the corner, shaking in fear.

"Eze, what the hell do you think you're doing!?" I shouted, slamming the door open so it hit the wall.

"This is none of your concern Chardonnay!" Eze screamed at me, glaring harshly at me. "This is a matter between Secilia and I."

"The fuck it is!" I exclaimed "Vargas, take Secilia to Arielle and tell her what's going on," I said, a bit calmer than when I had spoken to Eze.

As Vargas retrieved Secilia and led her out of the room, I pushed Eze against the wall with dark magic before he could protest.

"You and I need to have a little chat."

Once they were all gone, I rounded on Eze. "Look you sparky little bastard, Seclia is your daughter you prick! It isn't her fault everything fell over! She wouldn't have done it on purpose, she probably just tripped or something, or maybe someone _else _did it and Secilia was caught in the middle! What kind of father says that?! Eze, never, ever try to spread your seed if that's how you react to her causing an accident." I slammed him against the wall, strength I never knew I had even with dark magic making itself known. "Damn it! This is why you don't have a daughter anymore! Why is your business so important to you you dumb fuck?! Eze, you were a warrior, a noble one at that, but look at you now! What warrior you know would ever do that?! You've seen Hogar! He was a father both in Gaia and here! He treats Alma the same, he just doesn't have to worry about all that bullshit from the war! This is what drove Emelia away! And its driving Seclia away! What's more important to you Eze: business or family?!"

I finally let Eze down, throat hoarse. Oh great. Now my throat would be sore.

"Think about it you prick," I called over my shoulder as Eze slumped to the ground.

~Arielle's POV~

I had just grabbed a sixth drink off of a tray from some waiter who was really nice and made sure a drink stayed in my hand. I think his name was Erin or something but by then I couldn't think straight.

As I finished off the drink, I heard someone sit beside me. "That's your what? Fifth one, love?" said a voice.

I looked over to see Nik sitting beside me with his legs crossed and signature smirk across his face.

"No mom, it's actually my sixth." I replied, sarcasm lacing my voice.

He made a fake wince and covered his heart with his hands "Ouch. Who pissed you off? Two seconds ago you were having the time of your life on the dance floor."

"That idiot Karl thought I was into you when he saw us dancing," I grumbled while setting the empty glass on the table behind me.

"He does realize that when I walk sparkles fly in every direction, yes?" he asked, seriously.

I laughed at this and replied, "Well he does now."

"Then what's the problem?" Nik asked.

"I'm annoyed that he's acting like we're dating and that I have to report everything I do to him like he's some sort of chaperon," I said, crossing my arms.

He laughed at me. "Honey, that's called jealously. It's when a boy really likes you and doesn't want you dancing with other guys and he had every right. I mean, if I saw my babe dancing with someone like we were? Oh, I'd want to kill that person too."

I looked at him and then back to the floor. "Stop making sense."

He laughed at me again and then put an arm around my shoulder. "Don't let him being stupid ruin your night."

"You're right," I sighed. "But he better make me food or there is no deal of forgiveness."

Nik looked over my shoulder. "Why don't you tell him yourself?" he asked.

I turned around to see Karl stalking towards me with Secilia wrist caught in his right hand.

"What's going on?" I asked as he approached me. Secilia looked as if she was a deer in front of headlights and Karl looked at if he was about to murder someone.

Before he could answer me a raging Vargas came up from behind me.

"I'm going to kill that bastard!" he snarled.

"Whoa," I said, putting my hand on his chest. "Wait, who is he talking about? Why are you trying to kill someone and why does Secilia look like she has seen a ghost?" I asked, swiveling my head back and forth between the two men and the teen.

As Vargas explained what he and Phoenix stumbled across downstairs, my rage made itself known.

"He said what to Secilia?!" I screamed in rage.

"And after that, he threw a vase that was aimed to hit her. I hate to think what he would have done if Phoenix and I hadn't shown up," he growled as his hands curled into fists by his sides. "After that, Phoenix told me to take Secilia to you and I ran into Karl on the way here."

"That son of a bitch!" I screamed, slamming my fist down on the bar counter. I looked over to Secilia who had flinched at my action. As I walked over to her, Karl let go of her wrist while I took a hold of both her hands.

"Tell me what happened."

"I-I-I didn't mean to," she started, looking like she was about to cry. "It was all the questions from my mom's friends. They asked me about th-the divorce and I panicked. I-I-I couldn't breathe and I was closer to the table then I thought and before I could do anything, I think I hit the table or s-something, a-and the d-drinks were everywhere," she stuttered.

"Shhh," I cooed, while giving her a giant bear hug. "None of this is your fault, okay? You just had an anxiety attack. Can you tell me what happened after that?"

I heard her hiccup as she went on. "After everyone started to leave, I tried to run outside but Eze grabbed my arm and threw me into that room." She took a pause and I looked down at her to see that her shoulder down to her elbow had a bruise on it in the shape of a hand-print. "And then he started screaming at me the most horrible things."

"Where was Vincent?" Vargas asked. "Where is he now?"

"H-he went to get us drinks and then Emilia's friend's cornered me and I couldn't g-g-get away. I d-d-didn't mean to, I just..." her sentence was cut off by her choking back a cry.

"Okay," I said while pulling her back up gently so that she could look at me eye-to-eye.

"Secilia, tonight was not your fault, those idiotic gossip girls should not have asked you all of those questions and Eze was way out of line. You are loved by me, Phoenix, Vargas, Karl and every single other person in our house. There is no way that Eze is getting away for making you feel as if you are not worth anything because honey, you are the world to me," I said in one breath.

She paused for a moment, looking at me with big blue eyes before she collapsed in tears. I passed her off to Karl as I went over to Vargas. He was talking to the Valentine brothers and they looked just as pissed as I was.

"Anything you need from us and we are on it," Justin announced as I reached them.

"Yeah," Nik agreed. "That bitch Eze is going down."

"Good because I am about to ruin Eze so much that he won't be able to show his face at his own company," I smirked, an evil glint in my eye.

"What are you planning?" Vargas asked "Because whatever it is, I'm in."

"Good, I need you to go to my car and grab my extra clothes that are stored in the trunk," I said while turning my head back to Secilia. Her dress had been stained by the wines when the pyramid fell.

"Got it," he agreed, grabbing my keys.

"Look for Vincent while you're at it!" I yelled at his retreating figure.

"Niklaus, let me borrow your phone." I said, holding my hand out towards him.

He stuck his hand into his suit and pulled out an iPhone 6. I basically snatched it from him and dialed a familiar number.

"What?" An annoyed voice answered.

"Hey, it's me. I need you to bring everyone from the house. Eze has really screwed up this time," I said into the phone.

"Oh shit! He must have done something awful if you're calling me," the voice chuckled.

"Trust me, tonight will be a night he will never forget. Now grab the kids, a ton of alcohol and tell Maxwell that the Valentine twins are here. I know it won't make sense to you but he will get it. And get here fast!" I yelled into the phone.

"Yes ma'am! I gotta say the demanding side of you is pretty sex-"

"Now is not the time, you idiot, now get over here!" I slammed the end button on the phone harshly before he could respond. As I finished my call, Vargas and Vincent came running up to us. Once Vincent saw Secilia he ran over to her to comfort her.

"Here," Vargas said, putting the clothes in my hand.

"Perfect. Twins, fill the boys in on what they missed," I ordered, palming my clothes.

The twin stood straight up and gave me a salute before saying "Yes ma'am" at the same time.

I rolled my eyes and left to get Secilia.

I approached Secilia, Vincent and Karl just as he was letting her go from a hug.

"Hey." I put my hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I am now, thanks to Karl and Vincent," she answered.

"That is good. Well come with me and we will get you all cleaned up," I said while guiding her towards the bathroom.

Karl looked like he was going to protest me leaving, but held his tongue.

As I gave him a final grateful look over my shoulder, I pulled Secilia with me to the bathroom.

~Phoenix's POV~

As I started towards the stairs, I saw Vincent walking down the stairs towards me.

"Is Secilia okay? And where were you?" I asked as he reached me.

"First, she's fine. She's with Arielle changing in the bathroom. Secilia and I got separated when I went to go get us a snack. The next thing I know, I'm being pushed up a set of stairs by a giant crowd. I went back down to find Secilia and that's when I ran into my dad who told me what happened." He answered.

"Okay that's fine then, it was just an accident I'm just glad that nobody was hurt," I said, letting out a breath that I didn't know I had been holding in.

"Except for Secilia," Vincent growled.

I looked up at him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey," I started seriously, trying to calm hothead down. "She's going to be fine, besides she is with Arielle. Nobody can be sad around her."

"AWWW YOU DO CARE!" I heard screamed from the top of the stairs.

Vincent and I both looked up to see the rest of the group standing at the top of the stairs. The voice that had rang out throughout the room belonged to Arielle who was now in a white tank top, black joggers and Nike running shoes. Not only was Arielle in a different outfit, but Secilia was now in Arielle's dress and looked better than she did before.

'_If that's possible,'_ Phoenix thought. Secilia really was beautiful, in just about anything. Even the clothes that were ruined she still looked pretty in. Some girls just naturally had that look, and Secilia was one of them.

As they made their way down the stairs, Arielle fell. Twice. Karl helped her up, giving me the impression that Arielle decided not to hold a grudge when she decided to send him a cheeky wink.

They finally made their way to Vincent and I and when they did, I hooked my arm around Vargas, showing that there was no hard feelings. He was shocked at first but then slowly he put his arm around my waist.

"Thank you again Arielle for letting me borrow your dress, but I could have just worn the extra clothes," Secilia was saying with a bashful look.

"Oh please," Arielle started as she put her hands on her hips. "You are the reason half these people are here. Besides you look great in that and I can rock any look," she insisted while striking a pose.

Everyone laughed at this, including the twins, but I rolled my eyes. "You must have just eaten or something, since you're clearly so full of yourself," I teased.

She stuck her tongue out at me. "Oh please. You only wish you could be like me and rock whatever you want."

"I in fact can," I shot back.

"You do look great, Secilia," Vincent said finally, stopping our argument and finding his words, after staring at Secilia the whole time.

"Ah! So he speaks! And here I thought all you could do was stare," Arielle said, making Vincent turn a deep crimson color.

Secilia took this as a chance to walk over to our boy, Vincent, and throw her arm around him. "T-Thank you."

"AWWWW!" We all looked to see the two Valentine brothers screaming and hugging each other. "You all look so cute together!"

I realized that they were talking about the three couples: Arielle and Karl, Secilia and Vincent, and Vargas and I.

I rolled my eyes at their screaming and fangirling. They could squeal and scream much more than Arielle and I ever could.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Arielle said abruptly. She looked at the twins and pointed at Justin. "Where is the man whose butt you were grouping out in the parking lot," she whipped around to point at Niklaus "and the guy who had your tongue down his throat?" she asked making the two stop laughing and blush now that the spot light was on them.

"I believe she is talking about us" a voice said from behind me.

I let go of Vargas and turned around to see two VERY attractive men walking towards us.

"Holy shit," I heard Arielle exclaim.

The men made their way over to the twins and hugged their significant other. Justin was the first to talk.

"Everyone, this is my boyfriend, Levi," he announced, introducing the man who was a little taller than himself.

Levi was a well-built mixed man who had a face of a god. His hair was a chocolate brown that complimented his brown eyes quite nicely. He was wearing black slacks and a tight midnight blue dress shirt, an expensive Rolex on his wrist.

"Hello everyone," he said while sending us a dazzling Hollywood smile, cocking on hip to the side.

"And Arielle, this is the man I left you for." Niklaus said, smirking at her. "James, this was the only woman I really loved, Arielle."

James looked like a supermodel and had the body to match. His hair was a raven black and he had blue eyes. He also had cheek bones that look like they could cut someone. As Levi, he wore black slacks, but his shirt was a deep red color instead of blue, and showed off more of his abs than James' shirt did (damn those tight shirts! Why didn't Vargas ever wear those?!)

"Okay first, I am not mad about you dumping me anymore because again, Holy Shit! And second," she paused for a minute and shook her head. "I forgot what I was going to say because you are so hot."

James chuckled at this and wrapped Niklaus in his arms. "Thank you Arielle," he grinned. "Though I must say, I can't really see why Niklaus would dump someone like you. You're much more beautiful than Niklaus said you were."

"The pleasure is mine," Arielle purred in reply. "And sweetie, I know I'm hot. Niklaus was always jealous. In fact, he never dated anyone prettier than him, so I'm surprised that he's dating you, Mr. Supermodel."

"Arielle!" I hissed. "Karl is right behind you! Have you no shame?!" Geez, you come to a party with a guy that really liked you, and this was how you paid him back?! What was wrong with her?!

"Oh please, Karl thinks they're hot too! His body got stiff when they announced themselves." At this point, Karl was blushing furiously. "Besides everybody is basically eye-raping these boys, and when have I ever held back?"

Niklaus smirked as well. "She has a point."

Before I could respond, Arielle's phone went off, signaling that somebody was calling her. "Hello?" she answered. A big smile found its way to her face that did not sit well in my stomach. That smile looked pure evil, meaning Arielle was up to something. "Okay thanks," she replied to the person on the phone, hanging it up.

"Who was that?" I asked.

She smirked at me, and the feeling in my stomach sunk lower and felt even worse.

"PARTY'S HERE BITCHES!" I heard from outside. Wait…that didn't make sense! How did-

Suddenly, a red hummer crashed through one of the windows, sending glass flying everywhere. Women screamed and men jumped back in surprise. I however, rolled my eyes and sighed. "You called the gang, didn't you?" I said to Arielle, who had the hugest grin on her face. I didn't even know why I even asked. Of course she did.

"Maybe I called them. Maybe I didn't."

Zegar jumped off the roof of the Hummer, laughing. "Damn, the cops aren't gonna be happy about this. Neither will Sparky. Where is the old bastard at anyways?" He chugged a can of beer, crushed it against his chest, and threw it somewhere. Amazingly, it bounced off a woman's (obviously) fake breasts, off a man's top hat (who the hell wore a top hat to a party like this? What kind of people did Eze work with?! Stupid prick wants to get on to us about being late, but what about the damn dress code huh?!), and landed in a waste bin. Well, the animalistic bastard _was _good at free throws…

Eze was basically boiling over with rage. "I don't let animals into my home," he growled. "You'll have to leave."

Zegar stared at him seriously for a few seconds before pulling out a noisemaker and shaking it around wildly. "Well, I'm the plus one!" He said with a goofy smile.

Eze glared at him. "Get. Out."

Zegar blinked. "Huh? But I'm the plus one! I came with…" he pulled out a card. "A Mr. J Ack Hee-off-mun."

"You mean Jack Hoffman?"

Zegar burst out laughing, and Eze realized his mistake. "Grow up," Eze growled.

"ZEGAR!" Arielle screamed, unable to help herself. "STOP TALKING TO THAT PRETENIOUS FART AND CRANK THIS PARTY UP!

"YEAH!" He shouted, whipping off his shirt and twirling it around his head. "LUTHER! UDA! PUMP UP THE MUSIC!"

As the kids piled out of the Hummer, a familiar song reached my ears.

_Shorty had them apple-bottom jeans (jeans)_

_Boots with the fur (with the fur)_

_The whole club is lookin' at her._

_She hit the floor (she hit the floor)_

_Next thing you know_

_Shorty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low._

I grinned, nodding my head to the beat. "For you," Luther said, handing me some clothes.

"Thank Maxwell. This dress is hugging me way too tight," I answered, pulling the pants on under my dress. I pulled the tank top over my dress and pulled the straps to my dress down, slipping my arms through it and pulling it down, over my pants, and kicked it off. When I stood, I noticed Vargas had gone shirtless and was in low riding sweatpants, shrugging. "Eze deserves it," he explained. "He's being a douche."

"Truer words have never been spoken," I replied, watching Sasha vault off the hood of the Hummer and grab onto the low hanging parts of the chandelier. Arielle laughed and did the same, only she ran to the top of the stairs and jumped from there. As she swung, she was singing (screaming) at the top of her lungs. "IIIIIIII'M GONNA SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING FROM THE CHANDELLLIEEEER! THE CHANDELIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR!"

~3rd Person~

Eze was steaming mad as his party went to shit so quickly. Now, three people were on his chandelier, inappropriate music was playing, and the ones who weren't on the chandelier or wrestling near the food table (he never trusted Luther or Uda in the old days damn it) were dancing everywhere, scaring his employees, and he swore he saw a news reporter lurking _somewhere _around here.

Double damn it!

He turned to Phoenix, who was draining another glass of wine. "Phoenix," he hissed. "What is the meaning of this?"

She shrugged. "Lighten' up Ez. Damn. Why you in yo feelins?" Oh great. Phoenix was past tipsy and making her way to drunk. Triple Damn it. "Phoenix," he said slowly, taking her wine away from her. "Please tell them to leave."

Phoenix snatched her wine back. "Never try to take a woman's fifth glass of wine," she hissed. "Or was it the sixth? Or maybe seven? I dunno." She drained what remained in the glass. "And I said lighten up. Chill, have fun. Take ya shirt off." She eyed Vargas and Zegar appreciatively. "Maxwell knows everyone else has."

Eze counted backwards from ten, calming himself. "Phoenix, why are you drinking as much as five-"

She dropped her glass onto the ground, grabbing a bottle of wine instead. "Ten," she corrected, taking a swig from the bottle.

"…Ten, glasses of wine? And why are your friends here?"

"Mmm…is this an '83? Tasted like it." She shrugged. "Eh, whatever."

Eze watched in disgusted amazement as Phoenix drained the rest of the wine bottle, accompanied with Arielle, Luther, Uda, and Zegar chanting 'chug, chug, chug' as she finished the bottle and dropped in onto the ground.

"Whoo! You go mama! Someone get her another bottle!" Zegar was shouting from the chandelier.

"No!" Eze shouted. "No more wine! Phoenix, get your friends and get them out of here!"

Phoenix had already taken another bottle, glaring at Rayden. "Not now. Rayden here thinks he can outdrink me, and I say no the heck he can't." Rayden teasingly held up his own bottle, making Phoenix growl. "Excuse me as I prove a bitch wrong."

"Yeah mama!" Zegar whooped, vaulting off the chandelier. "Place your bets, place your bets! Phoenix or Rayden people! Whose gonna win?!"

To Eze's horror, his employees and co-workers began handing Zegar money, pointing to either of the two contestants.

"Should we really let this continue?" Secilia said to Eideolous, who was chilling on the hood of the Hummer with her, Elijah, and Vincent. "I mean, this party _does _mean a lot to my dad."

"He must have pissed Phoenix off," Elijah muttered. "Or Arielle. Or both. All I know is that dad burst in and told me to get up and get dressed because we were going to a party. Next thing I know, Zegar is driving the Hummer through a window." He shrugged. "He had some really good air time, I'll give him that."

Vincent laughed. "Go Phoenix! Chug that bottle!" He turned to Secilia. "Nah, but he really must have made them mad, especially since he yelled at you. So don't even stress about things. He deserves it and he's not getting off that easily."

Back at the table, Phoenix stood, pumping a fist into the air. "UNDEFEATED!" She yelled, holding up two bottles.

Arielle cheered. "You go Phee! Who wants to take her on?! Who's next!"

Phoenix wiped her mouth, smirking at Rayden. "Undefeated! Who thinks they can outdrink me?!"

No one took her challenge, so Zegar and Arielle plopped down, picking up their own bottles. "I think we can do it!" Arielle challenged. "You ready for this?"

Phoenix had a determined look on her face as she sat down as well. "Let's do this!"

Eze felt a migraine coming on. This was a total disaster. He was going to kill Phoenix and Arielle!

~The Next Day~

Phoenix groaned, rolling over in bed. Unfortunately, she rolled right off, yelping as she hit the floor. "Damn it," she groaned, holding her head. "I may have drunk too much."

"How much do you define as too much?" came Arielle's voice from beside her.

"I dunno. A few glasses of wine? You know I don't act right after four," Phoenix answered, grasping the bed and hauling herself up a bit.

"You drank six bottles of wine," came Zegar's deep rumble from the bed. "Well, five glasses of wine and six bottles. Rayden decided to loosen up and get wasted and was totally shit faced and challenged you to see who could drain a bottle the fastest and you won. Same for Arielle and me-"

"Arielle and I," Phoenix corrected.

"Arielle and I," Zegar mocked, and Phoenix could just hear his eye roll. "Anyways, after that, you were dancing on a table with Luther and Karl, and you drank another bottle while you danced, which turned into a dance off where you destroyed Karl after you hit him with those amazing buns of yours."

Phoenix blushed while Arielle laughed. "Hah! Yeah Phee. You must have embarrassed the shit out of that one lady with the fake boobies too. You were on the fifth bottle when you told her that he 'water balloons' were better suited in a water balloon fight or as a toy for small children. You then called her a whore and told her that her fake knees were probably there to help her with her carpet burn problem."

"Uggh," Phoenix moaned, clutching her head. "This is why I try not to drink too much. I'm a horrible person when I'm drunk."

"That you are indeed," Maxwell teased, gliding into the room with a flourish, clucking his tongue. "Oh Phoenix, this is why we always try not to let you have even one. While you aren't a lightweight, you are certainly brash." He flipped his hair. "I got the kids all up and ready and sent them off to school. Not without relieving them of the missed sleep and Eideolous and Elijah's headaches. And of course, they were fed and had all the right stuff in their bags and were dressed appropriately. And yes, I made sure they had everything they need for their finals, and I made them lunch." He smiled. "Oh, and Emilia called, wanted to apologize for what happened with Eze, and wanted to know if she could spend a weekend with Secilia since she hasn't seen her little girl in so long." Maxwell shrugged, still beaming. "Oh, and in other, more fabulous news-"

"Maxxie," Arielle mumbled. "While we love you and your fabulous expensive as shit pajamas, all of our heads are killing us and Phoenix is embarrassed about her drinking problem."

Phoenix grabbed the nearest thing, a pillow, and threw it at her, hitting Arielle in the nose with deadly accuracy. "Shut up," she mumbled.

Maxwell was smiling, giving quick touches to their forehead. "Vargas," he shook his head at the man, who Phoenix guessed was in her four poster bed as well. "When did you get inked? It's a nice little one too. Though I never guessed you were one for Henna…"

"No. Way." Zegar jumped up, stumbling over to Vargas. "He does! He is inked!"

Vargas blushed. "Leave it alone. I got it when I was younger."

"Phoenix has a tramp stamp!" Arielle piped up, standing. "It's a rose. A black rose. Mysterious!"

Knocking at the door drew everyone's attention from Phoenix, which she was thankful for. "I'll get it," Phoenix offered quickly, getting to her feet, not knowing her shirt had ridden up a bit.

"Ooh, you do have a little rose," Maxwell gushed. "It's so cute!"

Phoenix blushed, pulling her shirt down. "Whatever!" She shouted, heading downstairs. Kuda was asleep on the couch, Karl on the floor, but everything seemed normal there. Kuda probably stole something from Eze, but Phoenix was oddly okay with that. Again, she had to remind herself that the bastard deserved it.

"What the fuck are _you _doing here?" Phoenix hissed as soon as she opened the door. "You aren't welcome here, get out." With that, she tried to slam the door closed, but a pink heel stood in the doorway.

"Phoenix, why are you acting like that?" The woman pouted. "I thought we were friends."

"Where did you get that idea?" She growled. "I never liked you. I barely know you. All I know is that you can get the fuck out and never return to my fucking house."

"Conner is _my _child," the woman hissed. "I have a right to see him!"

"Even if the mother has all the legal rights to her child in regard to visitation to the father, if she does in fact sign over those rights completely, the father of said child of the primary caretaker or caretakers of the child have the right to decide if the mother is allowed any visitation in the future, an order approved by a judge. There were in fact two witnesses there, along with myself, Maxwell, and Arielle, who watched you in fact sign over those rights. You are in fact, entitled to nothing in regards to Conner," Phoenix explained with a smirk. She _could _have been a lawyer, but why bother when she had an old friend from high school who dealt with all her legal rights when it came to her novels and any other issues? And so what if they were the best in California? Phoenix picked up a thing or two from the talks the two sometimes had.

"I-I…"

"Eva," Phoenix said calmly. "You're trespassing. I will call the cops if you don't leave."

"No!" Eva snarled. "Let me see my son!"

"You don't have the right. And don't you fucking raise your voice with me Eva. I'm not scared of you. Now leave, or else."

"You bitch!" Eva snarled, clawing at Phoenix. Phoenix winced, feeling Eva's claw sink into her skin. Damn, that was going to hurt.

"You hit me." She could feel her cheek stinging. "In my own house. Now, I can say that not only did you trespass, but you attacked me. It's self-defense." Phoenix wiped the blood from her cheek and lunged.

"HOLY SHIT!" Zegar ran towards the door, hauling Phoenix off of the white-haired woman below her.

"Damn woman!" Arielle rushed down as well, helping Phoenix up. "What the hell?! You just went to answer the door!" Then, Arielle got a good look at the woman Phoenix was fighting. "Never mind Zegar. Let her go."

Zegar complied, stepping back.

"Hey!" A male voice yelled. "Get off of my wife!"

Two hands shoved against Phoenix's shoulders, throwing her back against the floor, making her grunt as her back collided with the hardwood.

"Hey!" Zegar shouted. "You can't hit a woman!" There was no further need for provocation. Zegar lunged.

"You'd better let me see my son!" Eva shouted.

"You have no right!" Phoenix yelled back. "Karl decides who can see Conner, and you cannot see him anymore. You signed over your rights and you can't go back on that." She still remembered that day, all too well.

_~Flashback~_

"_Momma!" Conner yelled, trying to wrap tiny arms around Arielle's legs. "Up! Up!"_

_Arielle laughed, picking Conner up. "Aw, of course Conner." Conner laughed, pulling at her hair. It made Arielle wince, but she still laughed. "You're getting strong little man," she grinned, ruffling his locks._

_Conner giggled, wrapping his arms around her neck. _

"_He runs off every time," Karl panted, running up to her. "I swear he has you on some kind of radar."_

_Arielle shrugged, shifting Conner to one arm. "Well, he just likes me. Loves me actually, though I'm shocked he calls me momma after such a short time. I mean, he's only been with us a month."_

_That fateful day at the park had passed by too quickly, where Arielle and Phoenix were shocked to learn that Karl only saw his son twice a month. The day they met him was his first day, and after some argument, they went to a judge to change that. Eva showed of course, but she insisted that Karl was the unfit parent out of all of them, but when it came to Conner, that baby was __**frightened **__of his own birth mother, leading the judge to think Eva was abusing him. That fact alone, added with the fact that Conner was malnourished and lacking in development was enough for him to agree that Karl was given more visitation. And after more prompting (on Arielle's part of course), Karl wanted full rights to Conner. It took some time, persuasion, and threats, but he was finally able to get Eva to agree. Now, it was just time for them to get everything signed._

"_Mom!" Conner wriggled in Arielle's arm, pointing at Phoenix who had Jared and Vincent both holding her hands. _

"_Conner!" Phoenix looked like she wanted to hold him, but her hands were full. But Karl saw what was going on and gently took Vincent's hand so that Phoenix at least had one arm open. Conner saw this and wriggled even more, reaching for Phoenix, who with enough practice with Vincent and Jared, grabbed him with one arm. "You've gotten a bit bigger since last time," she commented as Conner wrapped arm around her neck._

"_Mom," Conner repeated, nuzzling her neck._

_Jared whined, being denied attention. "Mom!" He whined, tugging on her hand._

_Phoenix grinned, lifting Jared as well. "Alright Jared. Mom isn't ignoring you."_

_Jared shot Conner a smug look (as smug as the almost-year-old could look), but Conner just blinked._

"_Aw, but what about Momma?!" Arielle whined. "Momma wants to hold one of her babies!"_

"_Then take Jared before he starts hitting Conner please?" Phoenix shifted her hold a bit. "Jared is the attention hog, remember?"_

_Arielle held out her hands. "Poor baby! Mom is being mean, isn't she?"_

_Jared nodded, pouting, and reached out his hands. Arielle took him from Phoenix and cradled him, smiling once Jared smiled up at her._

"_Well, if it isn't the rent-a-mommies," a female voice sneered._

_Conner whimpered in Phoenix's arms, clinging tighter to her. Phoenix narrowed her eyes. "Hello Eva. Still a conceited, stuck-up, think-she's-still-a-princess attention whore I see."_

"_Tentin 'hore," Jared repeated, laughing._

_Eva narrowed her eyes. "And still a desperate for her own child halfway house for rent-a-kids I see," she sneered back._

"_So, you think Conner is a rent-a-kid? Just like you're a rent-a-whore when Jack doesn't pay attention to you right?" _

"_Don't you dare speak to my wife that way!"_

_Arielle narrowed her eyes this time. "Jack," she growled. "Still Eva's sperm donor."_

_Eva's mouth dropped open, eye filling with rage. "Why you-"_

"_How dare you?!" Jack hissed. "Take that back!"_

"_How dare you call your own son a rent-a-kid," Phoenix was hissing at Eva. "You act like he's a waste of space. Conner is such a bright child Eva. He knows so much at such a young age. Why would you treat him so badly? Malnourishment? The fear? Eva, Conner is terrified of you! And you're his mother!"_

"_That's right," Eva agreed. "I __**am **__his mother. So we shouldn't even be doing this. Now, give me my son!"_

_Conner shrieked as Eva reached for him, beginning to cry. He wrapped his arms tighter around Phoenix, crying into her shoulder. "No!" He shouted. "No!"_

_Phoenix took a few steps back, away from Eva, holding Conner protectively. "He obviously doesn't want you."_

"_I swear to Maxwell, if you don't give me my child-" Eva began._

"_Everyone," someone said calmly. "If you'd step into my office, we can settle everything. If any hits are thrown, this could get pretty serious. Please, can we all just gather in here so we can get this over with, hmm?"_

_Eva and Phoenix were in a heated staring contest with each other. Conner whimpered again, trying to hide. "Fine," Phoenix nodded stiffly, brushing past Eva and Jack and going into the office._

"_Now, if everyone is in agreement, and with our witnesses, Maxwell Adams, Nick Saints, Alice Lich, Chardonnay Ramirez Brown, Arielle Laurenti Carter, Ms. Frost, if you sign here, you are given up every single one of your parental rights to Conner Vaike and allowing his birth father, Karl Vaike, to take over all the parental rights to Conner, and you'd be unable to make any kinds of decisions, medical included, on his part in regards to anything. Mr. Vaike is not asking for child support, nor are you obligated to pay. But , you cannot demand visitation or anything of that subject from here on in. Is that clear?"_

_Eva nodded._

"_Now, once you sign here, you cannot go back and change this. Are you sure you'd like to continue?"_

_Eva gave a look to Conner, who was dozing in Phoenix's lap, then to Jack, who gave a single nod. "I'd like to continue. Now, where do I sign?"_

"_Bitch," Phoenix hissed under her breath. "Half an hour ago, you were insistent on keeping him, now look at you."_

_Eva glared at her._

"_Ms. Ramirez-Brown, I must ask that you refrain from any remarks like that. Please, sit quietly until this is completely over with," the lawyer said, looking at her from over the rim of his glasses. "Now, if that's everything, Mrs. Frost, I need your signature here, here, here, and I'll need you to initial here."_

_Eva complied, looking like she didn't really care either way. "Anything else?"_

"_Well," the lawyer straightened up. "That is everything. Our witnesses have seen it all, and this document can be filed away. All parental rights over Conner Vaike are now in the hands of his biological father."_

_Karl sighed in relief, gently taking Conner from Phoenix. At the movement, Conner blinked open his eyes, staring up at his father. A smile broke out across his face as he wrapped his arms around his father. "Daddy!"_

_Karl stroked Conner's back. "I'm here son. I'm here."_

_~Flashback End~_

"Conner needs to know who his mother is!" Eva screamed, trying to lunge at Phoenix. "Not two wannabes like you and your whore of a 'sister'!"

"Conner doesn't need a mother that would neglect him like you did!" Phoenix screamed back. "He shouldn't have grown up in fear of his mother! I'm glad you gave up your parental rights because Arielle and I got to help Karl raise his son into the person he is now! Conner is a genius, everyone likes him, and he has a bright future ahead of him! And you would have halted all of that! Conner wouldn't have the opportunities he has with you!"

"He was raised thinking it was all right to have a father and two mothers! Everyone will make fun of him because of that! And people will talk about him! What kind of opportunity is that?!"

"No one treats Conner any differently!" Phoenix shot back. "But you wouldn't know! Where have you been this whole time?! Oh that's right, you didn't want to be in his life!"

"Phoenix, if you don't let me see my son, so help me I will freeze you to death!"

"Oh yeah?! Try me bitch!"

"Hello?" Someone called, breaking the tension in the room. "Is anyone here?"

All the adults froze as the teen filed in, eyes widening when they saw the scene. "M-Mom?" Conner asked hesitantly.

Eva smirked at Phoenix. "See? Conner still-"

Conner pushed past her and kneeled beside Phoenix, touching her cheek gently. "How did this happen? It looks like it hurts."

"It does," Phoenix answered. "But it'll heal."

Conner than turned to Arielle. "Momma, what happened?"

"Yeah, and whose the ugly skank in the Pepto Bismol-pink dress?" Sasha asked.

Arielle burst out laughing while Phoenix rolled her eyes. "Sasha, that's not nice. It's more of a…chewed bubble gum pink."

Eva's face heated. "How dare you?! This dress cost more than-"

"Eva, before you embarrass yourself more than you already have, just know that they're all in designer clothes. Jessabelle's bag was $3000. And Arielle would know because she bought it for Jessabelle for no particular reason."

"It matches her eyes!" Arielle protested.

"So they're spoiled," Jack growled. "You spoiled every single one of them."

Arielle shook her head. "Do you want to, or should I?" She asked Phoenix.

Phoenix sighed. "Just because we have this money doesn't mean we've spoiled them. Jessabelle had been asking for that bag for five years. We only bought it as a gift after she got her first job at a clothing store. We figured she deserved it. And Jessabelle paid us back for it. We never bought them anything when they pleaded for it. In fact, they've donated a lot of stuff, and persuaded us to donate money, to charities. We _just _bought that flat screen in the living room a month ago."

"And what a wonderful flat screen it is," Jared commented.

Eva ignored her, placing a hand on Conner's shoulder. "Conner sweetie, may I talk to you?"

"I-I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," Conner admitted, making Arielle laugh. "Well we have taught you, young padiwan."

"So you do have my Star Wars movies!" Phoenix yelled. "Damn it, give them back!"

"Hello?!" Jack shouted. "We're here for a reason!"

"Yes!" Eva stood up. "Damn it, I want my son back!"

She turned and smiled sweetly at Conner. "Conner honey, come here."

Conner backed up a little, eyes confused. "I-I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," he repeated.

Arielle laughed at Eva's shocked look. "We've taught you well."

"A-Am I supposed to know her?" Conner asked.

"Conner, this is your mother, Eva," Phoenix answered.

"Huh." Conner still prodded at Phoenix's cheek. "Does it still hurt? Do you want ice?"

"I'll get it," Esther volunteered, padding out of the room.

Phoenix stood, glaring at Eva. "Conner doesn't need you. As you can see, he's perfectly fine with us."

"But he's growing up thinking it's fine to have two mothers who aren't biological to him!" Eva protested.

"I'm not confused," Conner said. "I know that Phoenix and Arielle aren't my real mother's. But I love them like mothers because they raised me like I was their real child and helped me and my father when we needed them. That's what a _real _mother would do."

"_Real_ mother?" Eva repeated. "I am a _real _mother! I gave birth to you!"

"And by what father has told me, you abused me when I was a child and I was malnourished. If you were a real mother, you wouldn't have done that," Conner replied, getting angry. "Arielle and Phoenix treated me like a son, which I am grateful for. Now ma'am, if you please, I have to go ice my mother's cheek."

"I'll ice her alright!" Eva shouted. She lifted her hand, opening her palm towards Phoenix as blue light began to grow in size. Conner stood protectively in front of Phoenix, shielding her, as Arielle glared at her. "Don't you hurt her!"

"Eva. Stop."

Eva turned, going a bit paler than she normally was. "K-Karl! Hey honey!"

"Karl," Jack grunted. "What are you doing here?"

It was no surprise that Jack hated Karl. And what man wouldn't? Although Jack was in the wrong for blaming Karl when Eva approached him, he still hated Karl for accepting, though Karl had been drunk at the time. And while Karl didn't have anything against Jack, he hated the fact that Jack always had to say something rude when Karl tried to be nice.

"I live here," Karl answered coldly. "What are you two doing here?"

Eva smiled sweetly. "Karl, I wanted to see Conner and-"

"No," Karl interrupted. "You gave up your rights a long time ago. Get out. Conner doesn't need you anymore."

"Karl, Conner is my son! I have a right-"

"You gave up your right!" Karl shouted. "You have no right to anything anymore! You and your husband get out and leave my son alone!"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Jack shouted at Karl.

"You shut up! Get out, the both of you!"

"You can't tell either of us what to do!"

"Listen!" Arielle screamed. "Both you and the Bitch Queen are trespassing, and we can call the cops! Now, you both need to leave now, or deal with the cops!"

Eva glared. "This isn't over!"

"I think it is," Phoenix hissed. "Now leave."

Eva sniffed, turning on her heel and stalking away. Jack gave them all a dirty look and walked out after his wife.

Phoenix sighed once they were gone. "Damn. All of this is too stressful." She looked at the kids. "Who wants to go to the Caribbean?"

* * *

Me: And there is the end of chapter two! I know it took for-f***kin' ever, but alas, things came up.

Abbeh: It's about damn time

Me: Oh whatever.

A/N: Yeah, as you can notice, there's a lot going on in _As Time Goes On_, because each character has a different story and something different going on in their life. So, things will be all over the place until we get to the main story line. We're setting up the story for all the characters which will eventually turn into a main story, and then get to the romance and stuff. For those of you wondering, there were many Brave Frontier characters mentioned that we probably didn't mention before. We'll list them all in their final evolution form.

Alice Lich: Inferno Princess Alice

Nick Saints: Raging Nick

Eva Frost: Snow Queen Eva (married to Jack)

Jack Frost: Avalanche Jack

Emilia: Holy Shock Emilia (ex-wife of Eze)

Eze (in case we didn't mention it before): Fulgar Halcyon Eze (he was given an Omni Evolution)

Maxwell: Creator Maxwell

Cardes: Cardes the Malevolent

Just in case you want to look them up. Anyways, we'll see you guys

NEXT TIME ON AS TIME GOES ON!

Abbeh: …was that a TeamFourStar reference

Me: …No…


End file.
